Movies with a nihilistic theme
by gediminasxxl | created - 16 Oct 2014 | updated - 07 Oct 2016 | PublicThese movies aren't about nihilism. This list contains movies that have nihilistic theme, characters, atmosphere etc. Most of these movies have nothing to do with nihilism, just depict the absurdity of it all. Feel free to suggest and/ or criticize.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Sunset Limited (2011 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 91 min | Drama
Through a chance encounter, two men of opposing ideologies deliberate spiritual, philosophical, and profound matters in a New York City apartment.
Director: Tommy Lee Jones | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones
Votes: 31,806
2. Oslo, August 31st (2011)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
One day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.
Director: Joachim Trier | Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Hans Olav Brenner, Ingrid Olava, Malin Crépin
Votes: 29,608 | Gross: $0.10M
3. Fight Club (1999)
R | 139 min | Drama
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
Votes: 2,320,375 | Gross: $37.03M
4. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 919,379 | Gross: $28.26M
5. Tyrannosaur (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama
Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, earns a chance of redemption that appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker.
Director: Paddy Considine | Stars: Peter Mullan, Archie Lal, Jag Sanghera, Mike Fearnley
Votes: 33,750 | Gross: $0.02M
6. Barfly (1987)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Based on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, Jack Nance
Votes: 21,950 | Gross: $3.22M
7. The Turin Horse (2011)
Not Rated | 155 min | Drama
A rural farmer is forced to confront the mortality of his faithful horse.
Directors: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky | Stars: János Derzsi, Erika Bók, Mihály Kormos, Ricsi
Votes: 19,404 | Gross: $0.05M
8. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
R | 116 min | Crime, Drama
A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.
Director: Joel Coen | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, James Gandolfini
Votes: 114,946 | Gross: $7.49M
9. No Country for Old Men (2007)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 1,058,830 | Gross: $74.28M
10. A Serious Man (2009)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Fred Melamed
Votes: 149,771 | Gross: $9.19M
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
R | 104 min | Drama, Music
A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund
Votes: 163,327 | Gross: $13.24M
12. Bullhead (2011)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Sint-Truiden, Belgium. Jacky, a young cattle farmer who is constantly pumped on steroids and hormones, is approached by a veterinarian to make a deal with a notorious beef trader.
Director: Michaël R. Roskam | Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval, Jeanne Dandoy, Barbara Sarafian
Votes: 24,298 | Gross: $0.15M
13. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A disaffected soldier returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs who brutalized his mentally-challenged brother years ago.
Director: Shane Meadows | Stars: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Stuart Wolfenden
Votes: 58,318 | Gross: $0.01M
14. The Road (I) (2009)
R | 111 min | Drama, Thriller
In a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, an ailing father defends his son as they slowly travel to the sea.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall
Votes: 253,968 | Gross: $0.06M
15. Reprise (2006)
R | 105 min | Drama
Fueled by literary aspirations and youthful exuberance, two competitive friends endure the pangs of love, depression, and burgeoning careers.
Director: Joachim Trier | Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Espen Klouman Høiner, Viktoria Winge, Odd-Magnus Williamson
Votes: 15,607 | Gross: $0.55M
16. One Week (I) (2008)
Not Rated | 94 min | Adventure, Drama
Chronicles the motorcycle trip of Ben Tyler as he rides from Toronto to Tofino, British Columbia. Ben stops at landmarks that are both iconic and idiosyncratic on his quest to find meaning in his life.
Director: Michael McGowan | Stars: Joshua Jackson, Peter Spence, Marc Strange, Gage Munroe
Votes: 12,042
17. Blue Ruin (2013)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A mysterious outsider's quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack
Votes: 78,804 | Gross: $0.26M
18. A Coffee in Berlin (2012)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Drama
An aimless university dropout attempts to make sense of life as he spends one fateful day wandering the streets of Berlin.
Director: Jan-Ole Gerster | Stars: Tom Schilling, Katharina Schüttler, Justus von Dohnányi, Andreas Schröders
Votes: 17,514 | Gross: $0.15M
19. You, the Living (2007)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
You, the Living is a film about humankind, its greatness and its baseness, joy and sorrow, its self-confidence and anxiety, its desire to love and be loved.
Director: Roy Andersson | Stars: Elisabeth Helander, Jörgen Nohall, Jan Wikbladh, Björn Englund
Votes: 16,281 | Gross: $0.02M
20. God Bless America (2011)
R | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
On a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, terminally ill Frank makes an unlikely accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy.
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait | Stars: Joel Murray, Tara Lynne Barr, Mackenzie Brooke Smith, Melinda Page Hamilton
Votes: 71,937 | Gross: $0.12M
21. Falkenberg Farewell (2006)
91 min | Drama
The last summer the five boys are together in Falkenberg. They are now grown up to be young men, on their way out into the world. At least most of them.
Director: Jesper Ganslandt | Stars: John Axel Eriksson, Holger Eriksson, David Johnson, Jesper Ganslandt
Votes: 2,950
22. The Deer Hunter (1978)
R | 183 min | Drama, War
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage
Votes: 361,853 | Gross: $48.98M
23. Only God Forgives (2013)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Gordon Brown
Votes: 118,042 | Gross: $0.78M
24. Antichrist (2009)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage, but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm
Votes: 136,416 | Gross: $0.40M
25. Melancholia (2011)
R | 135 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård
Votes: 195,694 | Gross: $3.03M
26. Nightcrawler (2014)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
When Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.
Director: Dan Gilroy | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed
Votes: 603,866 | Gross: $32.38M
moral nihilism
27. Filth (I) (2013)
R | 97 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A corrupt, junkie cop with bipolar disorder attempts to manipulate his way through a promotion in order to win back his wife and daughter while also fighting his own inner demons.
Director: Jon S. Baird | Stars: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots
Votes: 115,741 | Gross: $0.03M
28. The Seventh Seal (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy
A knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe
Votes: 198,272
29. The Bothersome Man (2006)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
In a strange city where every person seems content beyond reason a new man arrives in town and stirs up trouble by asking too many questions.
Director: Jens Lien | Stars: Trond Fausa, Petronella Barker, Per Schaanning, Birgitte Larsen
Votes: 18,059
30. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
R | 98 min | Drama
A dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg
Votes: 40,484 | Gross: $19.40M
31. Factotum (2005)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.
Director: Bent Hamer | Stars: Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, Marisa Tomei, Didier Flamand
Votes: 15,028 | Gross: $0.81M
32. Children of Men (2006)
R | 109 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine
Votes: 528,970 | Gross: $35.55M
33. Falling Down (1993)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 206,408 | Gross: $40.90M
34. Gummo (1997)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
Lonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.
Director: Harmony Korine | Stars: Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, Lara Tosh, Jacob Reynolds
Votes: 38,200 | Gross: $0.02M
35. The Snowtown Murders (2011)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Bob Adriaens
Votes: 20,592 | Gross: $0.01M
36. Hesher (2010)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
Director: Spencer Susser | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson
Votes: 54,074 | Gross: $0.38M
37. American Beauty (1999)
R | 122 min | Drama
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley
Votes: 1,209,852 | Gross: $130.10M
38. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Drama
A washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough
Votes: 666,176 | Gross: $42.34M
39. Fargo (2014–2024)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Various chronicles of deception, intrigue, and murder in and around frozen Minnesota. All of these tales mysteriously lead back one way or another to Fargo, North Dakota.
Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks
Votes: 421,255
40. True Detective (2014– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Anthology series in which police investigations unearth the personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within and outside the law.
Stars: Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch
Votes: 655,244
41. Stoker (2013)
R | 99 min | Drama, Thriller
After India's father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Dermot Mulroney
Votes: 114,481 | Gross: $1.70M
42. Leviathan (2014)
R | 140 min | Crime, Drama
In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev | Stars: Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Roman Madyanov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov
Votes: 56,876 | Gross: $1.09M
43. Collateral (2004)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo
Votes: 432,726 | Gross: $101.01M
44. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997)
Not Rated | 87 min | Action, Crime, Comedy
Two terminally ill patients escape from a hospital, steal a car and rush towards the sea.
Director: Thomas Jahn | Stars: Til Schweiger, Jan Josef Liefers, Thierry van Werveke, Moritz Bleibtreu
Votes: 33,631 | Gross: $0.00M
45. There Will Be Blood (2007)
R | 158 min | Drama
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer
Votes: 640,393 | Gross: $40.22M
46. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener
Votes: 98,135 | Gross: $3.08M
47. Whatever Works (2009)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A middle-aged, misanthropic divorcé from New York City surprisingly enters a fulfilling, Pygmalion-type relationship with a much younger, unsophisticated Southern girl.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Larry David, Henry Cavill, Adam Brooks
Votes: 76,860 | Gross: $5.31M
48. Lord of War (2005)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama
An arms dealer confronts the morality of his work as he is being chased by an INTERPOL Agent.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan
Votes: 336,610 | Gross: $24.15M
49. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
TV-MA | 137 min | Drama, War
A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Abraham Attah, Emmanuel Affadzi, Ricky Adelayitor, Andrew Adote
Votes: 86,767 | Gross: $0.08M
50. The Great Beauty (2013)
Not Rated | 141 min | Drama
Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
Director: Paolo Sorrentino | Stars: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso
Votes: 97,324 | Gross: $2.85M
51. Match Point (2005)
R | 124 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
At a turning point in his life, a former tennis pro falls for an actress who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode
Votes: 227,934 | Gross: $23.09M
52. Submarino (2010)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
Two brothers meet at their mother's funeral, each in his way on a path of self-destruction, both haunted by a tragedy in their youth.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Gustav Fischer Kjærulff, Sebastian Bull, Mads Broe Andersen, Jakob Cedergren
Votes: 11,576
53. Bad Words (2013)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
A spelling bee loser sets out to exact revenge by finding a loophole and attempting to win as an adult.
Director: Jason Bateman | Stars: Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, Rohan Chand
Votes: 55,350 | Gross: $7.76M
54. Demolition (2015)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama
A successful investment banker struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. With the help of a customer service rep and her young son, he starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah Lewis
Votes: 111,956 | Gross: $1.98M
55. The Fire Within (1963)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Depressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic where he was detoxified. He meets friends, acquaintances and women, trying to find a reason to continue living. Will this help him?
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Maurice Ronet, Léna Skerla, Yvonne Clech, Hubert Deschamps
Votes: 10,449
56. Revolutionary Road (2008)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Christopher Fitzgerald, Jonathan Roumie
Votes: 224,839 | Gross: $22.91M
57. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,520 | Gross: $0.75M
Tell Your Friends