WARNING: Given the nature of the question being answered in this post, the following scenes are intense and designed to evoke a sense of stress and anxiety. Some of the responses also contain descriptions of violence. Please proceed with caution, and take care of yourself.
Recently, we asked members of our BuzzFeed Community, "What is the single most stressful movie scene of all time? A movie moment so intense, so anxiety-inducing, you could physically feel yourself tensing up with discomfort?" and you better believe they came through with some A+ answers!
So with that in mind, here are just a few of the most popular responses shared:
Also, another WARNING: This post does contain spoilers for various films. We've placed the film title first so you can decide which you'd like to read!
1. The Menu (2022)
"The 'Tyler's Bullshit' cooking scene. It was great watching Ralph Fiennes's Chef absolutely destroy Nicholas Hoult’s douchebag Tyler, but that scene was so tense and uncomfortable!"
You can watch the tense scene here:
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2. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
"When Hans Landa is alone with Shoshanna and says, 'There was something else I wanted to ask you...'"
You can watch the tense scene here:
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3. Titanic (1997)
"The scene when Jack is handcuffed as the ship is sinking and Rose has to go find help, but ends up having to use an axe to cut him loose."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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4. Turning Red (2022)
"When May's mom shows up at school with her pads. Anyone who had their period in middle school can physically feel how stressful and embarrassing that was for her. I've seen that scene a ton of times and still get second-hand embarrassment."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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5. Mission: Impossible (1996)
"The heist scene in the original when he couldn't make a sound, raise the temperature, touch anything, etc. The single drop of sweat...IYKYK."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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6. The Thing (1982)
"The blood test scene."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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7. Joker (2019)
"The subway scene. Watching that woman be harassed while she hoped that the only other person who could intervene would, and then us as the audience knowing what was going to happen when they shifted their focus to Arthur. It was excruciating."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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8. Room (2015)
"When the little boy is trying to escape in the bed of the pickup truck. I don’t think I took a breath for a solid three minutes."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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9. No Country for Old Men (2007)
"The scene at the end between Carla Jean and Anton Chigurh."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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10. Jurassic Park (1993)
"The kitchen scene. I was 9 years old and hid behind the sofa for most of the film, but this scene was so tense, I just had to watch it."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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11. The Hurt Locker (2008)
"His whole job was to defuse the bomb before it blows up! I had to keep pausing because I just couldn’t take it. Kathryn Bigelow took five years off my life with that movie."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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12. Argo (2012)
"The scene at the end when they’re trying to fly out of Iran with everyone, and there's a race between Ben Affleck's character, the embassy employees, and the Iranians who found out that some of the diplomats were missing. It's one of the most stressful scenes I had ever seen at the time. I distinctly remember being on the edge of my seat for like 10 minutes just holding my breath."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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13. The Impossible (2012)
"The tsunami sequence. Just thinking about it makes me tense!"
You can watch the tense scene here:
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14. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
"The night vision goggles scene! Terrifying!"
You can watch the tense scene here:
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15. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
"The mission scene at the end. It's what the whole movie was building up to, so of course I knew it would be stressful, but I was on the edge of my seat during it all wondering if they would make it back."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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16. Jaws (1975)
"The USS Indianapolis scene. It's literally just three guys talking and drinking on a boat, but Quint's retelling is so well acted, you feel like you’re there in the water waiting for your turn as everyone else gets picked off one-by-one. That scene builds and builds so well. I’d love to have seen that filmed — I bet you could have heard a pin drop after!"
You can watch the tense scene here:
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17. Hereditary (2018)
"I watch a lot of horror and am rarely bothered, but I physically reacted to the car crash and following morning scenes. I already felt like I couldn’t breathe through her allergic reaction, and then it quickly spiraled from there."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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18. Uncut Gems (2019)
"The last 15 minutes. That man fumbled every step of the way throughout the movie, so, when it was his last chance to get the money, you were rooting for him just so that it could finally be over. He did win the money, and, for 2 seconds, you were relieved — only for them to kill him anyway and rob the store."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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19. Goodfellas (1990)
"The 'Funny how?' scene. Joe Pesci is terrifying, and it's made worse by taking place in such an ordinary setting."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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20. The Fallout (2021)
"The scene when they're hiding in the bathroom. I was struck by the sound of the character's heavy breath, crying, and throwing up. You pretty much spend the entire scene just waiting for something to happen — to either be told it's over or for the gunman to come into the bathroom.I had the pause the movie after watching that scene."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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21. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
"The scene when the bathtub keeps filling up with water, and the baby in it almost drowns. It gives me a panic attack every time I see it."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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22. The Martian (2015)
"When Captain Lewis can't reach Mark, so he has to jump his way to her. Even then, he's struggling to hold onto the tether as she desperately tries to tangle the rope to reach him faster. The cheer around the world when she announces he's safe was so well deserved, as that sequence was so stressful. One slip, and — after surviving alone on Mars for over a year — he would have just floated off into space, dead."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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23. What Lies Beneath (2000)
"The scene with Michelle Pfeiffer in the bathtub, when she's paralyzed while it slowly fills up to drown her!"
You can watch the tense scene here:
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24. Misery (1990)
"For me, it's the scene when Paul picked the lock and escaped his room while Annie was gone. He's exploring the house, and eventually, he grabs a knife and some pills. However, he suddenly hears Annie's car and realizes she's on her way back, so he has to crawl his way back into his wheelchair and into his room before she finds out that he had snuck out. That scene is just so tense."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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25. Brothers (2009)
"There's a scene after Sam returns home. He, his wife, Grace, and brother, Tommy, are seated at a table. Sam and Grace's daughter gets upset for some reason and gets a balloon and starts squeezing it in her hands. She catches everyone's eye while doing this because it makes a squeaking sound. Sam looks at his daughter with the scariest look to get her to stop, but she keeps doing it while staring her dad down until he eventually snaps at her. In return, she says a ton of horrible things, even saying her mom and uncle were having an affair and that she wants her uncle as her dad instead. That scene broke me. I was so on edge watching it. To this day, the image of her staring her dad down while squeaking that balloon gives me chills."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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26. Back to the Future (1985)
"When Doc almost failed to connect the cables before the lightning struck the clock."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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27. The Invisible Man (2020)
"The scene at the beginning when Elisabeth Moss's character is trying to sneak out of her house and away from her abusive husband."
You can watch the tense scene here:
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28. Shiva Baby (2020)
"Not one specific scene, just all of it. Rachel Sennott’s character makes terrible decisions for 90 minutes. I was audibly yelling, 'No!'"
You can watch the trailer for the whole tense movie here:
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You've read their picks, but now it's your turn! What is the single tensest, most stressful movie scene of all time? Share in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.