The Most Boring Movies Ever Made
Most filmmakers do whatever they can to make sure their final product is not sleep-inducing. They will cut scenes that drag, and they will even go through reshoots to inject some action. Unfortunately, sometimes these things don’t help, and the final product still equates to a boring movie.
Some boring movies are intentional. While well done, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood was not an edge-of-your-seater, but the action wasn’t as riveting as many of the previous Tarantino films. Just because some films are boring doesn’t mean you should avoid them.
The following list may make you reconsider. These are some of the most boring movies ever made. Watch them at your own peril or at least if you’ve had trouble sleeping at night.
Most Boring Movies Ever Made
8. The Room (2003)
Not only is The Room a slog to sit through but many critics and publications, along with the general public, have dubbed this film the worst movie ever made.
Tommy Wiseau wrote, directed, and starred in this boring movie that tells the story of a love triangle between a banker Johnny, his cheating girlfriend Lisa, and his best friend Mark, with whom Lisa is having an affair.
To make matters worse for viewers is the fact that Wiseau has thrown in numerous, yet unrelated, subplots that don’t add up to anything. Definitely a tough watch.
7. The Tree of Life (2011)
Boring doesn’t always equal bad. Some films, while challenging to keep one’s eyes open, don’t necessarily mean they are bad films. The Tree of Life is a boring movie, but not a bad one.
It is a Terrance Malick film, and that right there should inform you of what’s to come. Malick loves to linger with his camera and he definitely takes his time with this film. The movie stars A-lister’s Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn, but that does not help with the pacing.
Boring, yes, but Malick’s film did receive three Oscar nominations.
6. Gerry (2002)
Gus Van Sant’s Gerry is one of the most yawn-inducing films made in the past three decades. It stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as two hikers who, after coming across other hikers, decide to go off-trail so they won’t be bothered.
The two talk a bit, have a foot race, then decide it is time to head back. It is soon after this that they realize they are lost. Van Sant follows Damon and Affleck as they wander first through the wilderness, then in silence through a desert. Yawn.
5. Inland Empire (2006)
Everyone who knows the works of David Lynch knows he is very hands-on when it comes to his projects. With Inland Empire, he takes that to a new level. Whether it contributes to this film being one of the most boring movies, we are not sure.
Lynch wrote, directed, and co-produced the film, but not only that, but he also did the cinematography, the editing, the film’s score, and sound design.
This boring movie stars Lynch lynchpins Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, and Harry Dean Stanton and tells the story of a Hollywood actress (Dern) who over time begins to take on the personality of the character she is portraying.
4. Melancholia (2011)
To know Lars von Trier’s films is to love Lars von Trier’s films. You can’t say that he isn’t unique with his writing and directing style. Melancholia is the middle film in von Trier’s unofficially titled “Depression Trilogy” which started with Antichrist and ended with Nymphomaniac.
Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgård, Kiefer Sutherland, and von Trier regular Charlotte Gainsbourg star in a story about the lives of two sisters right before a rogue planet collides with Earth. Sounds riveting, but it’s a von Trier film.
3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
How Casey Affleck is on this boring movie list for a second time is beyond us, but here he is again. The film is an interesting one for those who wish to know the story of the outlaw Jesse James.
Brad Pitt plays James while Affleck plays Robert Ford, the man who assassinated James. It’s not that the film is terrible by any means, it is just the story takes so long to get into and to finish. Andrew Dominik wrote and directed the film, one that could have used another edit or two.
2. The Brown Bunny (2003)
Sometimes boring movies are good, and then there’s The Brown Bunny. This Vincent Gallo film is an experimental road movie that follows Bud Clay (Gallo) on a cross-country drive.
Along the way, he begins to be haunted by the memory of Daisy (Chloë Sevigny), his former lover. The film is a rambling mess that is punctuated by the graphic scene where Sevigny performs unsimulated fellatio on Gallo. Not even that explicit scene could save this film.
1. Sátántangó (1994)
Talk about a yawn-fest, that is exactly what you are going to get with Hungarian director Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó. Why, you ask? Well, for starters, Tarr’s film runs for over 7 hours in length. Yes, you read that right, over 7 hours.
As per Tarr’s work, the film contains numerous long takes, adding to the long, boring pace. Many of the individual scenes last ten minutes or more, with one dance sequence shot where the camera barely moves. Its focus is on the dance floor where the main characters continue to dance and drink.
Tarr’s opening shot is a tracking one alongside a herd of cows that lasts eight full minutes. If you can handle it, this film needs to be seen to be appreciated.
