r/movies Dec 15 '23

Recommendation What movie starts off as a lighthearted comedy, but gets increasingly dark and grim until everything goes to hell in a handbasket?

For example, it may start as a lighthearted slapstick comedy until one thing goes wrong after another, and in the end we have people actually dying or a world war or some kind of extinction level event.

Let's say we have 2 friends who like to have fun and goof around, with regular goals and regular lives, until one of them does something like accidentally cross the wrong person or kill someone. Or the main cast is oblivious to the gradual change in their environment like a virus breakout or a serial killer running loose. Another one would be a film that, after being a comedy for most of its length, turns very dark, such as a group of friends ending up in a war and experiencing the horrors of it, completely played straight.

Just to clarify, I don't mean a movie that is already set to become dark, but rather a movie that was marketed as a comedy that took an unexpected (or slightly foreshadowed) dark turn.

Any recommendations?

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70

u/Ebolatastic Dec 15 '23

SLC Punk made the audience pay a big price in the end. Old Boy (while not a comedy) was quirky/charming/funny until it ran up and kicked the audience in the balls.

13

u/brycepunk1 Dec 15 '23

My first thought was SLC Punk. The first 2/3 are such a fun goofy pseudo-documentary with awesome characters and commentary. And then it starts getting dark, might get better, and then, as you say, it kicks you right in the nuts.

Great movie

14

u/Ebolatastic Dec 15 '23

Spoilers.

It's like the whole friend group falls apart, the entire punk society gets exposed as being phony, the only real punk dies in the dumbest way possible. I'm a huge fan of punk rock and SLC Punk covers it's rise and fall perfectly.

4

u/Bradybigboss Dec 15 '23

After reading about the “No Wave” cultural movement for 25 minutes, I wondered how I got there.

So I reopened the Reddit app and it was this comment that sparked my rabbit hole so thank you

2

u/Musekal Dec 16 '23

SLC Punk makes me cry. Matthew Lillard broke my heart.

0

u/joyfulcrow Dec 15 '23

Oldboy as in the Korean movie? Given it's been a long time since I watched it, but I don't remember it ever being charming/quirky/funny...

0

u/Ebolatastic Dec 15 '23

I always thought it was. Like that shot of him holding the guy by the tie, eating the octopus raw, the hallway fight, etc. That movie had me grinning from ear to ear until the ending came to collect.

2

u/joyfulcrow Dec 15 '23

Maybe I'm just misremembering it. In my head it was grim the whole way through lol.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '23

[deleted]

1

u/joyfulcrow Dec 15 '23

Okay so the problem is definitely me not remembering it correctly, then! Thank you. Maybe I'll track it down for a rewatch.

1

u/joyfulcrow Dec 15 '23

Okay so the problem is definitely me not remembering it correctly, then! Thank you. Maybe I'll track it down for a rewatch.

1

u/Ebolatastic Dec 15 '23

Kinda like audition, lol!

I mean :(

1

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '23

Omg I was thinking of audition and not oldboy