From Being Too Disturbing, To Just Being Genuinely Terrible, 29 Films People Tried To Watch, But Had To Turn Off

    "I was so sick to my stomach, I couldn’t watch it. I don’t even think I made it halfway through."

    Benjamin Dzialdowski
    by Benjamin Dzialdowski

    BuzzFeed Staff

    However much we love movies, there are some that, despite our best efforts, we just can't actually sit through. Whether they're too disturbing, too boring, or just too painstakingly awful, sometimes we just can't make it to the end.

    Paramount Pictures

    I recently asked the BuzzFeed Community for the movies they couldn't finish, and here are some of the best (and most controversial) responses:

    1. La La Land

    Lionsgate

    "I turned it off about 15-20 minutes in. I love musicals and musical movies especially but everything in me hated this. It was too smooth, just too overly polished. When a film feels like that that early on you know it’s gonna be a cringefest."

    —mariskamartina

    2. The Power of the Dog

    Netflix

    "It was so boring, and the acting was terrible. I just feel like everything was long and drawn out for nothing. It got so much media hype and Benedict Cumberbatch got an Oscar nom for it.

    Everyone was pushing and praising this movie. he did method acting for it and stayed in character for months before, during, and sometime after and it turned out to be a big snooze-fest…"

    —gigimomster

    3. The Happening

    20th Century Studios

    "The plants did it. Oh really? Okay. Why is that? I’m sorry, you’re not really making much sense. This script is nonsensical."

    —daniellemaines

    4. The Last Airbender

    Paramount Pictures

    "M. Night Shyamalan’s disastrous live-action interpretation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Don’t even get me started on how awful the half I watched was."

    —blackbird68

    5. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

    Sony Pictures Releasing

    "Normally I quite like Tarantino films but this one sucked hot garbage arse, and the ending was just insulting."

    —zoe020113

    6. Fast X

    Universal Pictures

    "I worked my way through all of them in prep for this one. It looked good from the music video. Lasted 20 minutes, and by that point, there were three heart-to-hearts with Vin trying to act, and the writing was horrid. Jason Momoa couldn't even save it."

    —llynrhonwen

    7. Battle Royale II

    Toei Company

    "I'm a huge fan of the first one and have watched it numerous times, but the sequel is absolutely terrible in every way."

    —facebook_10153089943587029

    8. Jupiter Ascending

    Warner Bros. Pictures

    "Gave it a glance only because of the good-looking cast. Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis… That’s 30 mins of my life I’ll never get back!"

    —tangytwirl

    9. Avatar: The Way of Water

    20th Century Studios

    "Really who can watch without an intermission? I tried twice! I’m done – no need for another try."

    —assistant1

    10. Last House on the Left (2009)

    Universal Pictures

    "I was so sick to my stomach, I couldn’t watch it. I don’t even think I made it halfway through. As a woman, it’s so terrifying."

    —brookemonaco

    11. Ichi the Killer (2001)

    Media Blasters

    "It was disgusting, the violence and gore went far beyond any other film I'd ever tried to watch. Didn't make it halfway through before I trashed it."

    —google_106092113954655701771

    12. Dune (1984)

    Universal Pictures

    "I couldn’t do it. My now husband really loves sci-fi and he recommended we watch it when first started dating. Omg, I was nauseous THE WHOLE MOVIE! I kept pausing because the visuals were making me physically sick. I still can’t watch the original and still won’t. It still makes me sick to my stomach and I will never ever dare to watch it again."

    —gigimomster

    13. Australia

    20th Century Studios

    "I was stoked to see Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman together and then it was just sooo dull, not to mention LONG. I went in to see it opening weekend in 2008 and I'm pretty sure the movie hasn't ended yet..."

    —buttercupbailey

    14. You Don't Mess with the Zohan

    Sony Pictures Releasing

    "It's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Everything about it was terrible. It was painfully unfunny. I made it maybe halfway through before I had to turn it off."

    —destructogirl

    15. The Lobster

    Picturehouse Entertainment

    "It tried so hard to be this avante-garde art house flick, but it was just straight-up bizarre and boring. Not even Rachel Weiss could save it."

    —luxahoy

    16. Moulin Rouge!

    20th Century Fox

    "I walked out and never looked back. It was awful. It was a beautiful picture book, but that’s all it was. The story was insipid and inaccurate. The casting was ridiculous! John Leguzamo as Toulouse-Lautrec? I love Ewan McGregor, but he’s no singer, and it’s a freaking musical. Just awful. I don’t know why people like it. It would have made a brilliant coffee table book."

    —chrisallen1

    17. 50 Shades of Grey

    Universal Pictures

    "My mom loves the movie. I watched a good bit of it like almost a year ago and couldn't finish it. The character of Christian literally made me so uncomfortable. He seemed controlling and toxic and Anastasia couldn't do anything if he wasn't notified first. And the weird ass rules he had for their relationship. 

    There was a scene where she was going to visit a relative or something and he didn't like the idea and she didn't ask him or tell him about it. I couldn't take anymore after that."

    —midwestgirl97

    18. Mission Impossible II

    Paramount Pictures

    "Apparently the original cut was 3 1/2 hours and the studio made director John Woo cut it almost in half. I can acknowledge that there will be plot holes when trying to cobble something together in those circumstances, but even so, it doesn't explain some of the editing choices. 

    There's a really long, odd scene that involves Thandiwe Newton walking down a dock that just... did not need to be there. If that's not enough then there's the overt luxury product placement, the incomprehensible plot that verges on racist at some points, and through all that, it took itself soooo seriously."

    —emilym4e8497a33

    19. XXX

    Sony Pictures Releasing

    "I went to the drive-in to see it. I fell asleep and woke up to hear a ton of explosions. Yep, the movie was still going on. I went back to sleep. Went to see it again with my nephew at the indoor show. Fell asleep, woke up to explosions and went back to sleep till the end. Guess I just wasn't meant to see it."

    —luckyangel30

    20. Gone With the Wind

    Loew's Inc.

    "I tried to sit down and watch it on Turner Classic Movies once, to see what all the fuss was about. Now, I can handle Dramas, I can handle long movies, but this was just Melodrama after Melodrama after Melodrama. I just couldn't handle the snail's pace. I changed channels during the Intermission."

    —jayjjimenez

    21. Lost In Translation

    Focus Features

    "Much of Sofia Coppola's entire filmography is just wallowing in the blasé of deep and unbearable ennui even in neon-lit foreign bustle and candy-coated opulence... It makes me feel sad for her personally; it makes her movies a depressing slog."

    —dingospleen

    22. Ace Ventura Pet Detective

    Warner Bros.

    "All my friends thought it was hilarious. To me, Jim Carrey was just making an ass out of himself."

    —jmacxjr

    23. Sausage Party

    Sony Pictures Releasing

    "Not my humour and I swear I heard my brain cells popping. The only movie I walked out on."

    —jennag05

    24. Cats

    Universal Pictures

    "I tried hate-watching it and even then I couldn't force myself to sit through more than 30 mins. Their hands, why do the cats have hands?!"

    —allierowling

    "I used to have a theory that it was made for actual cats since no one with human decency would watch it. Then I realised I was being stupid because real cats wouldn’t watch that trash either."

    —neverhaveieverlovedyoumore

    25. Eternals

    Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

    "I was so excited for it based on the cast and the director and it turned out to be the most boring movie I’ve seen in some time. I shut it off with about 45 minutes left and never looked back."

    —mvalentinec

    26. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zisou

    Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

    "I love Bill Murray, but that was one of the most pointless movies I've attempted to watch."

    —callmelittled

    27. The New World

    New Line Cinema

    "It was so boring! I could have watched it on fast-forward and still understood everything."

    —cristinacollins

    28. Lion King (2019)

    Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

    "I couldn’t finish it. It was unnecessary and boring. Many of the actors were lousy voice actors who were only hired because of who they are."

    —cruelsummer89

    29. Fargo

    Gramercy Pictures

    "A very unpopular opinion I know, but in the days of Blockbuster I rented it. It's the only movie I ever rented, bought, or saw in the theatre that I just couldn't finish. The over-done accents were so off-putting and it moved so slowly. It was a fantastic cast, but honestly, the Coen brothers are a little hit-and-miss for me."

    —markh63

    What film could you not even finish? Let us know in the comments below!