Today’s sensibilities demand clearer warnings than the ratings system of the past. Not only do we need to be aware of sexually explicit material, extreme violence and/or coarse language, we also need to be psychologically prepared before we settle into our comfortable lounge chairs or cozy armchairs and sofas. We need to know that we’re OK before, during and after new releases unfold before our eyes.

Iron resolve used to be the only armor I put on before a film screening, and I found that I appreciated the challenge of being emotionally engaged. The surprise of not knowing exactly how or why I would be put through the mental wringer added to the experience. Back then American History X had me screaming and kicking to the brink of disgust when Edward Norton’s neo-Nazi character trampled a black man to death. How can you forget something you never really saw, thanks to the dark and dangerous magic of filmmaking? How do we feel about hated characters like Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) in American Psycho or Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) in Clockwork Orange to the point that we identify with their situation and their terrible actions?

We may not come across films that American Psycho or Clockwork Orange again, but there are movies and even streaming shows that seek to force us to confront what lurks in the dark and uncomfortable spaces we so desire to avoid.

Mother! (Darren Aronofsky)

The punctuation mark is a clue that something is wrong with Aronofsky’s 2017 release. On the surface, it’s the story of a couple (Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem) whose quiet home is besieged by a host of uninvited guests that seems never-ending. Art and life collide, bend and shatter in surreal ways that test the boundaries of reality and creation itself. And of course, there’s that pesky exclamation point that opens the door to a multitude of follow-up narratives – Midsummer, The lighthouse, Hereditary – who dare to venture into similar psychosexual territory, but do not have quite the same level of forceful determination.

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Uncut Gems (Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie)

Imbued with the sense of a ticking clock counting down to the demise of its protagonist, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), an adrenaline-fueled New York jeweler with mounting debts that must be paid off at a rapid pace, the Safdies create the ultimate wild, headlong race against a concrete wall (rather than just crossing a finish line), lining the course with a true gem of a performance from none other than Kevin Garnett, who eases the discomfort in surprising and confusing ways. I find Sandler works best when he’s wildly playing against the comedic type audiences have come to know and love, and here he’s operating on the highest (and thinnest) tightrope with no net, somehow hopping around on a broken foot. And he’s constantly daring us to turn away.

Irreversible (Gaspar Noé)

Noé has never met an edge he wouldn’t run toward, leaping into the air and then plummeting back to earth with the grace of an Olympic diver. He has an indestructible streak that he can transmit to audiences willing to strap themselves onto his back. In 2002, when I was still a very new critic on the scene, I got a VHS screening of Irreversible late in the year, rushed home, put the tape in my player, pressed play, and turned the device off again 20 minutes in. The narrative — essentially a day-long emotional punishment that unfolds in reverse chronological order — follows two best friends who seem to be trying to avenge the brutal rape of a friend (Monica Bellucci) by a total stranger — and includes an act of violence that rivals the curb-kicking scene. American History X.

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My psyche was battered and bruised in a way no other film had ever punished me before, and I feared I would never be able to return to finish the story. Yet after trying to go to sleep, I sat up wide awake at 3am and pressed play again to pick up exactly where I left off, this time making myself a willing accomplice to my own psychological abuse. I have only seen the film once and will never do so again, but it has changed me in the best possible way, in a fascinating way.

Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier)

Punk music asks listeners to bang their heads against a wall to a driving beat and three garbled chords that most dead music masters wouldn’t even recognize if it meant they could return from the grave. But what happens when a punk band in the middle of nowhere, waiting for a random gig to start, witnesses a murder by neo-Nazis and then realizes there’s no way out? Banging against the wall is the only option. And when the great Patrick Stewart plays so against type that he’s unrecognizable, it’s no wonder Green Room grates on audience nerves (warning: trailer is explicit).

Breaking the Waves / Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier)

Danish filmmaker Von Trier co-founded Dogma 95, a film movement based on story, acting and themes (which for von Trier included a long list of issues – existential, social, sexual and political – as well as issues such as mental health) and which was careful to avoid the use of complex special effects or unnecessary technology. Breaking the Waves (warning: trailer is explicit) and Dancer in the Dark explored female sexuality to the extreme, and was at times loved for his brave attempts to show such themes naked on screen, but just as often denounced for brutally challenging us in such perverse ways, sometimes during interviews (rather than with his narrative efforts). Who dares sign up for a voyeuristic tour of depraved souls that belong in some unspoken level of Dante? inferno?

The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)

Something before birth on the scale of creeping discomfort, Zone focuses on the banality of evil in a banal and profound way. As if Hitler and his attempt to exterminate an entire people were not cruel enough, Glazer – based on Martin Amis’ text – reveals the root of humanity that makes such a devastating thing possible in the first place. We are neither good nor innocent, and I understand that because this film reflects us most truly. I used to think that 12 years slave offered the most blatant example of our basest instincts, but Zone surpassed Steve McQueen’s adaptation to an extent that was incomprehensible to me.

The Bear (Christopher Storer)

Want to understand and embrace the changes in television? Then look no further, because this Hulu comedy/drama centers on an ambitious young chef (Jeremy Allen White) who returns to Chicago to take over the family sandwich shop after his older brother commits suicide. And yes, I did say comedy/drama, but the series meanders between those tracks as if there were no tracks themselves, and the vehicle in question has no brakes or steering ability and an endless traffic jam looms ahead. Every single character in this workplace series thrives on chaos, but what about the audience hanging out in front of their screens? According to my wife, who I’m not sure laughed (or even giggled to herself) for a single moment during the first three seasons, the annoying is taken to unimaginable levels here, but she watches it with me anyway.

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Kinds of Goodness / Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Lanthimos turned his deliciously jaded gaze and sensitivity to the Queen City, revealing a seedy underbelly in 2017 The killing of a sacred deer — and it’s worth noting that the film might have been one of his tamer examinations of the troubling nature of humanity in isolated extremes. He’s since found an unlikely muse and partner in crime in Emma Stone, but I’m starting to think that maybe she’s always been the troubling one and has found a creative soulmate, which would explain her recent double act. Whether dealing with a fully developed woman with the mind of a child or multiple characters in short episodes (warning: trailer is explicit) devoted to David Lynch’s absurdity, Stone and Lanthimos seem eager to see which of them will blink first in a highly personal psychological game of cowardice. These two films are the double bill no one knew was needed, and one that could leave most viewers either scratching their eyes out or ensuring they never set foot in a theater again.