Great films where"bad"or "evil" triumphs over "good"?

sxt · 18-03-2022 8:45pm #1

Are there any great films in this category ?

"No Country for old men" is the only one I can think of, and even at that, it was ambiguous

Cetyl Palmitate · 18-03-2022 9:05pm

There will be blood. Both main characters are evil i suppose but 1 trimuphs over the other

RobbingBandit · 18-03-2022 9:06pm

The Devil's Advocate

Pacino was down right evil incarnate

growleaves · 18-03-2022 9:23pm

I rewatched NCFOM a few days ago. I doubt it would have been accepted as a great work of art by e.g. Tolstoy, if he could have seen it, because the overall effect by the end is of being bludgeoned over the head with chaos and meaninglessness.

Even though the artistry of the film is very great the moral or metaphysical effect is strange and sort-of wrong.

Like *spoiler alert* the way in which the viewer finds out that Moss has been killed by the Mexicans is presented in a way that is extremely nihilistic - on purpose of course. Quite original too.

I think is key to why the Sheriff feels overwhelmed by evil. He has enough religious feeling to expect to meet his father in the afterlife but not enough to see extreme wickedness the way a medieval knight would have seen it - as a sort of ungodly force that doesn't need rational categorisation.

Soupy2 · 18-03-2022 9:29pm

Fallen with Denzel Washington

Alter_Ego · 18-03-2022 9:32pm

Here are two I enjoyed:

The Devil All The Time

Only God Forgives

growleaves · 18-03-2022 9:33pm

I'm not sure if it counts as a "triumph", since in the last frame he's filled with remorse, but Michael Corleone wins against all his enemies in 'The Godfather Part II' including law enforcement (FBI) and the US Senate.

He seems to know how evil he is and it weighs on him all the time.

Pauline Kael wrote in her 1974 review "When Michael see Cuban children begging outside his car he knows what he has become: a predator on human weakness"

Mike Murdock · 18-03-2022 9:35pm

Se7en

John Doe wins in the end.

magicbastarder · 18-03-2022 9:37pm

Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown.

Ten of Swords · 18-03-2022 9:41pm

Arlington Road

About domestic terrorism in America, bad guys win and good guy is posthumously blamed as a lone wolf

mcsean2163 · 18-03-2022 9:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118803463#Comment_118803463

Only God Forgives

He gets his hands chopped off, hardly a triumph..

silverharp · 18-03-2022 10:29pm

Nightcrawler

trashcan · 18-03-2022 10:34pm

one that comes to mind for me is The Last Seduction. Not that well known, I don’t think. Many years since I saw it. Linda Florentina plays a very bad gal, who triumphs in the end.

Padraig Mor · 18-03-2022 10:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118803769#Comment_118803769

Fantastic show! She's such a goddamn bitch, in the best way possible.

Mongfinder General · 18-03-2022 10:40pm

Michael Collins. Depending on which side of the treaty you’re on…

mikethecop · 18-03-2022 10:41pm

Usual suspects surely , Kiser walks away in the end

Alien, Aliens etc, here always seems to be another one

callaway92 · 18-03-2022 10:43pm

Don’t Breathe

Great movie too (sequel awful)

gameoverdude · 18-03-2022 10:49pm

Jadoville(ccob) or empire strikes back?

tony1kenobi · 18-03-2022 11:02pm

The Omen.

Slydice · 18-03-2022 11:16pm

Hrmm..strugging to try and think of some and why they might fit.

Nineteen Eighty-Four - Totalitarian State

Requiem for a Dream - Addiction

Garage (with Pat Shortt as the lead) - Depression / Hopelessness / Suicide

Valkyrie - based on an attempt to kill Hitler that didn't succeed

End of Watch - Cop killed in Ambush

bodhrandude · 18-03-2022 11:29pm

Well watched Race with the Devil recently, quite dated now but that brilliant ending with the rectangle of fire.

JohnFalstaff · 18-03-2022 11:54pm

There's a fair few horror films that would qualify. Off the top of my head films like The Wicker Man, The Omen, Kill List, and Hereditary would all fit the bill.