Explains that some trilogies are known for being heavy and depressing, giving examples of trilogies such as 'Pusher', 'Three Colours', 'Terrifier', and 'The Apu Trilogy'.
Certain trilogies might well only get kind of heavy for one movie out of three, often the second… see the original Star Wars trilogy as well as The Dark Knight within its trilogy.
It’s naturally a downer to have people get invested in three movies’ worth of story, only to have to all end up feeling quite hopeless, so that’s why the second movie being the heaviest is a little more expected, if you're even going to have a bleak chapter in the first place. But it’s not the only way to tackle a movie trilogy, because some feel heavy throughout, or have, at a minimum, two out of three movies being intense and/or heavy-going.
The following trilogies can all count themselves among the heaviest in cinema history, with the bunch of them being depressing for different reasons, and depressing within different genres, too. 8 'Pusher' Nicholas Winding Refn might be more well-known for his 2010s English-language movies, with Drive especially being something of a modern cult classic, but his Pusher trilogy shouldn’t be overlooked. These films are incredibly gritty and down-and-dirty, with 1996’s Pusher feeling particularly grimy and low-budget.
That goes some way to helping things feel more realistic, and then narratively, it’s also intense, since it’s about a drug dealer losing a great deal of money, and needing to find a way to get it in time, as he’s otherwise in rather hot water. Things kept going with each subsequent movie focusing on a different protagonist, as a side character played by Mads Mikkelsen in the first movie was the central character in the second, and then the drug lord behind much of the first movie’s conflict/drama was the central character in the third film.
They're all brutal and downbeat in their own ways, but also quite engaging if you don’t mind movies that make you feel like you need a shower right after finishing them. 7 'Three Colours' This is a slightly tricky example, since Three Colours is a thematic trilogy, and each one does go for something a bit different tonally, and even different genre-wise. In terms of heaviness, Three Colours: Blue is the most full-on, as it’s an exploration of grief and accompanying feelings of depression, being about a woman navigating life after losing both her husband and daughter very suddenly, in a car accident.
Three Colours: White isn't as despair-filled, being a bit more comedic, but it’s still something of a psychological drama alongside being a comedy, and not without a dark sense of humor, either. Three Colours: Red is moody again, and maybe a little more mysterious, but ultimately not as heavy-going as Three Colours: Blue.
That first film does the heavy-lifting here, though the two movies that follow it do still have some darker moments. 6 'Terrifier' Terrifier probably won’t be a trilogy for long, but for now, it is made up of three movies, and they're three immensely gory movies, too. That’s kind of Terrifier’s thing, as a series so far: there’s a pretty much unstoppable villain at the center of things, and his whole thing is that he really likes to inflict maximum pain on his victims before killing them, so that’s where all the blood and gore inevitably come in.
There’s also a good deal of emotional and psychological distress he wants to cause certain victims, toying with them in that way before he actually hurts them, and so Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3 get kind of heavy in that way, on top of all the violence.
They are admittedly tongue-in-cheek at times, and not serious or heavy-going dramas in the way most of these other trilogies here are, but there’s a good bit of distress to be found throughout these three movies if you're not really on board with what they have to offer. 5 'X' Okay, sorry, it was hard to find heavy-going drama-focused trilogies, so here’s one more trio of horror movies: those belonging to the X trilogy. X is the first of them, and beyond being pretty savage as far as the violence is concerned, it’s also an oddly sad movie about how miserable it is to get old… once you do get past the kills.
It’s not exactly thought-provoking, but it is something. Pearl is a bit more of a drama and less of a horror movie, and it’s a prequel, laying out the rather somber backstory of the main villain of X, showing who she was when she was younger.
Then MaXXXine… well, MaXXXine sort of goes off the deep end, and calling it heavy beyond having some distressingly violent moments would be too much of a stretch, but two out of three ain’t bad and all that. 4 'The Apu Trilogy' Across three movies, The Apu Trilogy does something that might sound a little similar to what Boyhood did in one movie, but that 2014 film was surprisingly light on drama and narrative, really just being a slice-of-life thing across 12 years.
The films in this Indian trilogy, though, are incredibly heavy on drama, and also generally heavy-going, all the while mostly centering on a boy named Apu who grows into a young man by the third and final film, and is played by a total of four different actors across the trilogy. The first movie, Pather Panchali , has Apu as more of a passive character, since he’s so young, and much of that film is a very emotionally intense family drama.
Further hardships happen in Aparajito and The World of Apu , and while it’s not heavy-going or depressing 100% of the time, it is certainly downbeat stuff for a good chunk of the trilogy. 3 'The Godfather' Essentially, The Godfather is an epic tragedy in three parts, albeit with only two of those movies being essential to get the point across. The Godfather gets the ball rolling on depicting the downfall of the Corleone crime family, while The Godfather Part II showcases the truly messy and despairing stuff, and makes it feel heavier because much of it’s contrasted with a series of flashbacks that depict the rise of the Corleone empire.
It’s a rise and fall kind of thing, but not in a linear fashion, which sets it apart from other gangster movies about a character’s rise and fall.
The Godfather Part III doesn’t mine a great deal of new ground thematically or narratively, but it does have further bleak events happen to the characters who are still standing at that point in the series, so for present purposes, it is still able to count itself as a heavy-going part 3. 2 'Life of Crime' While Life of Crime is a documentary trilogy, it’s still worth including here because of how immensely heavy-going it gets, and the fact that it’s all genuinely real does undoubtedly add to that feeling. 1989’s One Year in a Life of Crime began the trilogy, and is what you'd expect, based on that title.
It got a follow-up almost a decade later , and then 2021 saw everything get wrapped up in a distressingly definitive manner. It's something of an anti-true crime documentary series, since there’s nothing flashy or intentionally entertaining here. That final film is called Life of Crime, 1984-2020, and can sort of be watched on its own, given that it summarizes what happened throughout that whole span of time, including the first two documentaries.
It’s still worthwhile watching the entire thing, though, as something of an anti-true crime documentary, since there’s nothing flashy or intentionally entertaining here, and it’s just about downtrodden people stuck in a hopeless cycle. The Life of Crime documentaries are also a bit like a much darker spin on the Seven Up documentary series, which also checked in with a group of people over a span of several decades. 1 'The Human Condition' More than earning masterpiece status, The Human Condition is one huge film separated into three parts, with more coherence than a good many other trilogies, owing to how this three-part movie was made and then released .
You get a huge story told over all three movies, with the first part mostly being about the lead-up to World War II, the second part involving the main character having to fight in it, and the third part being about surviving the immediate aftermath of the conflict. The protagonist changes a great deal throughout, since he’s put through so much and is initially a pacifist, yet can’t escape some kind of involvement in the war, at a certain point.
The Human Condition might well be the best Japanese-made World War II movie, and is up there as a contender for the best World War II movie made anywhere, really. It’s also absolutely grueling, emotionally intense, and unapologetic with the violence it depicts, with all those things – plus its overall length of approximately 10 hours – making it an inevitably difficult watch. COLLIDER.
Collider · Quiz Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz Which Oscar Best Picture Is Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works.
Ten questions will figure out which one. 🪜Parasite 🌀Everything Everywhere ☢️Oppenheimer 🐦Birdman 🪙No Country for Old Men FIND YOUR FILM → QUESTION 1 / 10TONE 01 What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don't just entertain — they leave something behind. ASomething that pulls the rug out — that makes me think I'm watching one kind of film and then reveals I'm watching another entirely.
BSomething overwhelming — funny, sad, absurd, and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty — a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I'm watching. DSomething formally daring — a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless — pure tension with no wasted frame.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 10THEME 02 Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What's yours? AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity.
BIdentity, family, and the chaos of trying to hold your life together when everything is falling apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you're still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order actually exists or if we just tell ourselves it does.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 10STRUCTURE 03 How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means. AGenre-twisting — I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different.
BMaximalist and genre-blending — comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, all in one ride. CEpic and non-linear — cutting between timelines, building a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow — I want to feel like I'm living it in real time, no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise — every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 10VILLAIN 04 What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you? AA system — invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face.
BThe self — the ways we sabotage, abandon, and fail the people we love most. CHistory — the unstoppable momentum of events that no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry — the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil — a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 10ENDING 05 What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like? AShock and inevitability — a conclusion that recontextualises everything that came before it.
BEarned emotion — I want to cry, laugh, and feel genuinely hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur — an ending that makes me sit in silence for a few minutes after. DAmbiguity — something that leaves enough open that I'm still thinking about it days later. EBleakness — an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it actually is.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 10WORLD 06 Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what's even possible. AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside — beauty masking rot, wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite — the multiverse of a single ordinary person.
CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point — where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood — fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape — desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 10CRAFT 07 What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable. AProduction design and mise-en-scène — every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control — the ability to move between registers without losing the audience.
CScore and sound design — music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you're watching. DCinematography as performance — the camera not recording events but participating in them. ESilence and restraint — what's left unsaid and unshown doing more work than any dialogue could.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 10PROTAGONIST 08 What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you. ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure.
BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws are inseparable from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 9 / 10PACE 09 How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately. AI love a slow build when I know the payoff is going to be seismic — patience for a devastating reveal.
BGive me relentless momentum — I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime doesn't scare me — if the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it to feel propulsive even when nothing is technically happening — restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried — I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 10 / 10AFTERMATH 10 What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want? AUnsettled — like I've just seen something I can't fully explain but can't stop thinking about.
BMoved and energised — like the film reminded me what actually matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled — like I've been in the presence of something genuinely important and overwhelming. DExhilarated — like I've just seen cinema doing something it's never quite done before. EHaunted — like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days.
REVEAL MY FILM → The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is… Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works. BEST PICTURE 2020 Parasite You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another.
Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it's ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image.
BEST PICTURE 2023 Everything Everywhere All at Once You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn't want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful.
This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it's about. BEST PICTURE 2024 Oppenheimer You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens.
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort.
BEST PICTURE 2015 Birdman You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it's about. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn't be possible.
Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all. BEST PICTURE 2008 No Country for Old Men You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning.
The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest.
No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Like Follow Followed The Human Condition I: No Greater Love Not Rated Drama History War Release Date December 14, 1959 Runtime 208 Minutes Director Masaki Kobayashi Writers Zenzô Matsuyama, Masaki Kobayashi, Jumpei Gomikawa Cast See All Powered by Expand Collapse
Depressing Heavy-Going Intense Trilogies Cinema History Different Genres Different Reasons
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