It’s probably happened to you to watch a movie in front of which you were so caught up that you felt like stressing even more than the character and that you only realized at the time of the credits that you had gnawed your hands in. because of the pressure. It’s normal, it’s that the film was well done, but still go see a doctor for your hand. We had the idea to make a little list of some of the most stressful scenes in cinema, the ones that keep us going and seem endless and here it is.
1. The drug deal scene in “Boogie Nights”
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Forced to put this scene first, rarely has the tension been so palpable in a scene from a movie. The main characters meet a contact they do not know to sell him drugs and throughout the scene a young boy detonates firecrackers. Ok it looks stupid like that, but it’s super well done.
2. The introduction of “Inglorious Basterds”
From the first scene of the film we take a good slap that puts us in tension: the interrogation led by the distressing Hans Landa and the presence of a family hidden under the small house that gives you pressure to enter. We can also cite the scene in the tavern which is also gradually rising, it causes as much stress as when my banking app loads my account statement.
3. The scene from the basketball game in “Uncut Gems”
We can’t say too much about Uncut Gems spoiler-free, but the movie as a whole manages to pose a mood and constant stress that keeps you from getting up to pee. The last twenty minutes are becoming untenable and we don’t even know why. Very mastered, even if we can not tell you too much about it, it would screw up the surprise.
4. The raptor scene in the kitchen in “Jurassic Park”
We’ve all seen this movie 10 times and it’s hard to feel the same stress after watching so many times, but remember the state you were in when you first saw the raptor scene in the kitchen? No, you don’t remember because you were taken to the infirmary because you passed out from stress.
5. The cellar scene in “The silence of the lambs”
The final scene of the hunt for Clarisse against Buffalo bill in his cellar is a real ordeal to watch. Not because it’s gory or violent, just because it’s appallingly well done: the lights go out, the killer puts on his night vision glasses and we hear more than the breaths… Just to describe it, I tremble. buttock.
6. The intro scene of “Scream”
Having become the most cult scene in the film (and probably in the saga), this ten-minute introduction set the tone for the film, increasing in tension as the telephone discussion progressed. We will never see phones the same way again. Nor the popcorns. Nor the patio doors. Nor the curtains. In short, this film changed everything, that’s why it is in the best horror films in history.
7. The scene of the “funny guy” in “The freedmen”
We can probably all agree that Joe Pesci steals the show from the rest of the cast in The freedmen. His completely unpredictable character manages to stress his own friends so when you know what he’s capable of, see the scene where you tell him he’s funny and he starts asking several times “How am I funny?” »It clearly gives a good tension.
8. The scene in the village in “1917”
The excellent war film in “false” sequence shot reserves some beautiful scenes but also a number of stressful moments that we will be careful not to spoil. However, the one where the main character arrives at night in the German-occupied village and tries to make his way without being spotted hangs you in your seat until it ends. And in addition the light is superb.
9. The poster scene in “Zodiac”
Another scene that gives a sick pressure and takes place in a cellar. In it the main character of Zodiac ends up in an old man because he is investigating the handwriting of someone who drew posters and at some point realizes that it was the old man in question who drew them (and so it is probably the killer). That expression of terror on Jake Gyllenhaal’s face is perfect, I had the same looking at the scene.
10. The club scene in “Seven”
We could simply talk about the last thirty minutes of the film since from the moment a certain character enters the scene it becomes more stressful than a chairlift stopped for 30 minutes. But the scene of the opening of the box and the few minutes that precede it activate all the glands of posterior sweating.
11. The big mess scene in “Mother!”
If you’ve seen the film you know what scene we’re talking about, that kind of completely indescribable moment when a thousand things happen in the house, each one more distressing than the last. The film manages to maintain a mystery throughout but this moment goes completely in the discomfort and the stress (and it is very well done).
12. The scene behind the “diner” in “Mulholland Drive”
If this scene hasn’t given you a lot of stress, I don’t know what you need. Yet there is nothing (initially) very stressful, we have a discussion between two people in a “dinner” in broad daylight, then the dialogue takes a different direction, more distressing, until the moment when the two characters come out and walk to the aisle behind the restaurant… Fuck pressure.
13. The Russian roulette scene in “Journey to Hell’s End”
In truth you could say that the entirety of this film after the wedding scene is a real nest of stress and that it bears its name very well. There is enough to bite your nails for almost two hours but the Russian roulette scene forces you to look with your fingers in front of your eyes, which is very complicated if you want to keep biting them at the same time.
14. The coin toss scene in “No country for old men”
You know very well what scene we are talking about. We could have put several other scenes from the film but this dialogue between the old boss of the gas station and the psychopathic killer is a lesson in unease. A moment which seems horribly long and which does not give you the female dog (it is a Quebec expression which means that it is scary).
15. About 90% of the movie “Nocturnal animals”
The car chase is literally traumatic, you get caught up in it like a rabbit between the headlights of a car (I think that’s a real expression, but you’re telling me if I’m making it up). That being said, we can agree that this whole movie is absolutely stressful and leaves us alone at the end with good reason to sleep badly. Great Tom Ford vibe.