History DarknessInducedAudienceApathy / Films

* ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen''; at least for more sensible viewers who are not cheering Clyde on after he's murdering attorneys, judges and lawyers indiscriminately. He's initially seen as sympathetic, because Darby killed his wife, daughter and got away with it by paying off Clyde's attorney, but after the aforementioned slaughter during the movie's second half? Not so much. The members of the justice system come off no better, as they're unilaterally portrayed as [[StrawCharacter horrible individuals who couldn't care less about enacting true justice than do stuff that only benefits them]]. Well, except for Cindy, [[spoiler: though she dies too]]. [[EvilVersusEvil No side looks any better than the other near the film's end]]. Nick, very conspicuously, has ethical issues with his job. He's suppressed most of them by the TimeSkip, but Clyde brings them roaring back.

* ''Film/ThreeHundred'' (like ''Sin City'', based on FrankMiller). The narrator described the Spartans as [[AlwaysLawfulGood the ultimate good guys]]. Because of his {{unreliab|leNarrator}}ility, though, it turns out the Spartans were just as [[AxCrazy insane]] and {{blood|Knight}}thirsty as their Persian enemies. Because of that, while the narrator described the battles between the Spartans and Persians as "good vs. evil" (or "order vs. chaos" if you prefer), to audience members, it seemed more like "[[EvilVersusEvil bad guys vs.]] [[BlackAndGrayMorality worse guys]]."

* BodyOfEvidence: As Ken Begg points out in his [[http://www.jabootu.com/boe.htm review]] "It finally just hit me that a major problem with this picture is that there isn’t a single vaguely likeable character in the whole deal. Frank is a [[YourCheatingHeart colossal, adulterous jerk.]] Rebecca is at [[EthicalSlut best a slutty weirdo]], at worst a [[TheVamp cold blooded killer]]. Garrett is a [[TheDitz doofus who prosecutes people under the most retarded rationales imaginable, and does so poorly.]] Even the victim was an [[DirtyOldMan old pervert]]. Now, this isn't necessarily fatal, but for it not to be, the film must be extremely well made. Needless to say, this is not the case here."

* ''Film/{{Casino}}'' is basically ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' without the humor or likeable characters, with even more extreme violence. Subsequently, it's much more divisive than its predecessor.

* Although Paul Verhoeven's ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is partly a comedy, it is very dark comedy that suggests that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are as animalistic as any other creature in outer space]]. Although the genocidal alien bugs are clearly the bad guys (although there are some hints that they're actually just scapegoats for human propaganda), [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the humans have become arrogant and brutal in the course of fighting them]]. Condemned criminals are executed on live TV, computer websites pump users full of [[PatrioticFervor overbearing propaganda reminiscent of World War II newsreels]], schoolchildren are encouraged to gleefully stomp on helpless insects in a form of FantasticRacism, people are denied citizenship rights if they do not serve in the military, the {{drill sergeant|Nasty}} at the infantry boot camp is a bully (okay, sometimes a JerkWithAHeartOfGold) who seems to enjoy [[EqualOpportunityEvil physically humiliating both male and female recruits]], [[DisproportionateRetribution soldiers are punched in the face for uttering mildly rude remarks]], and the protagonist is at one point stripped to the waist and [[ATasteOfTheLash receives 10 lashes across his bare back]] in full view of the entire camp as punishment for ''accidentally'' causing a comrade's death (though the poorly designed, incredibly unsafe training area was just a disaster waiting to happen). It should be noted that the film is an inversion of [[Literature/StarshipTroopers the original novel]], in which the only executed criminal is a serviceman who has shamed his unit by his actions, the drill sergeant is more inclined to lecture than to torture, and the protagonist was originally whipped for actions that could have caused the death of a comrade through his negligence (violating established safety regulations to make his job slightly easier).

* Although Paul Verhoeven's ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is partly a comedy, it is very dark comedy that suggests that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are as animalistic as any other creature in outer space]]. Although the genocidal alien bugs are clearly the bad guys (although there are some hints that they're actually just scapegoats for human propaganda), [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the humans have become arrogant and brutal in the course of fighting them]]. Condemned criminals are executed on live TV, computer websites pump users full of [[PatrioticFervor overbearing propaganda reminiscent of World War II newsreels]], schoolchildren are encouraged to gleefully stomp on helpless insects in a form of FantasticRacism, people are denied citizenship rights if they do not serve in the military, the {{drill sergeant|Nasty}} at the infantry boot camp is a bully (okay, sometimes a JerkWithAHeartOfGold) who seems to enjoy [[EqualOpportunityEvil physically humiliating both male and female recruits]], [[DisproportionateRetribution soldiers are punched in the face for uttering mildly rude remarks]], and the protagonist is at one point stripped to the waist and [[ATasteOfTheLash receives 10 lashes across his bare back]] in full view of the entire camp as punishment for ''accidentally'' causing a comrade's death. It should be noted that the film is an inversion of [[Literature/StarshipTroopers the original novel]], in which the only executed criminal is a serviceman who has shamed his unit by his actions, the drill sergeant is more inclined to lecture than to torture, and the protagonist was originally whipped for actions that could have caused the death of a comrade through his negligence.

* ''Film/PawnSacrifice'', though competently made as a film, was ''heavily'' marred by the fact that the Bobby Fischer's pride and utter contempt for everybody and everything other than chess made him a completely unlikeable piece of crap protagonist. His only redeeming quality is his intelligence, but it isn't enough to cover his faults or make anybody like him. The movie seems to intentionally portray him as such, but when the audience has nobody to root for and no desire to see the conflict of the film through to its end then people start to leave the theater. You actually want to see the perfunctory Russian antagonist win just to make this asshole suffer. By the end of the film the audience is just as exhausted as the poor schlubs in the movie that have to babysit Bobby through his life-long string of temper tantrums.

* A lot of the works of the CoenBrothers (as an example, ''TheManWhoWasntThere'' or ''Film/ASeriousMan'') are loaded with an absurd amount of BlackComedy... ''way'' too absurd and most importantly ''[[DudeNotFunny way]]'' too dark.. Horrible people doing horrible things in an IdiotPlot that will most probably end with them dying horrible deaths... or worse yet, becoming an IdiotHoudini that will most probably carry on without having learnt anything. Or worse yet, good people will be [[TheChewToy driven through]] [[CosmicPlaything the wringer]] to the point that they come out the other side [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy maddened into becoming]] TheAntiNihilist... when they come out alive.

* From what can be perceived from some of Creator/OliverStone movies, it's as if he can't go a single movie without having at least one scene with this trope in play. The most particular would have to be ''Film/{{Platoon}}'' (which, ironically, won Best Picture in 1986), where in it, the American soldiers themselves were a bunch of {{Sociopathic Soldier}}s (with the exception of Sgt. Elias Grodin and Pvt. Chris Taylor), who made themselves out to be as bad as the Vietnamese soldiers they were up against. They finally crossed the MoralEventHorizon, when they raided the Vietnamese village and nearly attempted to massacre the villagers there. This leaves only the aforementioned Elias and Taylor as the remaining sympathetic characters left, and even then, there's no point in caring about the war they're in.

* Part of the reason the Creator/JamesCameron[=/=]Creator/GuillermoDelToro film of ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness'' was canceled (the other part was an out-of-control-budget)--it's an R-rated horror film about two races of fighting {{Eldritch Abomination}}s who pay no mind to the doomed humans, and, unlike, ''Underworld'' there isn't even a romantic plotline to root for. It's also possible the execs thought it was just ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' [[RecycledInSpace with tentacles and penguins.]] Besides, with the mentioned war between two alien species, the black semiliquid polyvalent stuff that shoggoths are made of, and a group of human scientists exploring eldritch ancient ruins, they wanted to avoid being labelled DuelingMovies with ''Film/{{Prometheus}}''.

** ''Film/BatmanReturns'' failed to live up to the expectations set by its predecessor, and much of that was because all four of the main characters--including Batman himself--are murderous brutes. Some of them really are fighting for justice, but only occasionally do they do anything truly heroic--and the few characters that have no moral flaws, such as Commissioner Gordon and the Mayor, are [[StupidGood so ineffectual it's hard to see them as heroes]]. That leaves Alfred Pennyworth as the one character you can comfortably root for--and, let's face it, an elderly man isn't going to be seen as a role model by most people.

* BodyOfEvidence: As Ken Begg points out in his [[http://www.jabootu.com/boe.htm review]] "It finally just hit me that a major problem with this picture is that there isn’t a single vaguely likeable character in the whole deal. Frank is a [[YourCheatingHeart colossal, adulterous jerk.]] Rebecca is at [[EthicalSlut best a slutty weirdo]], at worst a [[TheVamp cold blooded killer]]. Garrett is a [[TheDitz doofus who prosecutes people under the most retarded rationales imaginable, and does so poorly.]] Even the victim was an [[DirtyOldMan old pervert]]. Now, this isn’t necessarily fatal, but for it not to be, the film must be extremely well made. Needless to say, this is not the case here."

* Any movie that centers on drugs or drug addicts (such as ''Film/RequiemForADream'') has a high chance of carrying this trope because there is no point in caring for a character who has doomed his/herself to begin with by becoming addicted.
* A common problem in horror movies: [[DevelopingDoomedCharacters the cast of potential victims is presented]] as a bunch of [[JerkAss obnoxious jerks]], and/or [[TooDumbToLive complete idiots,]] to the point where it's hard to feel bad for them when they finally start dying. [[RootingForTheEmpire Although for many that's part of the appeal]]. Case in point: British horror film ''Cherry Tree Lane''. A dreary middle-class couple bicker. Yobs break into their house and torture them. Who cares? Even viewers who like this sort of film would be surprised if one of them was genuinely scary. On the other hand, if the horror movie has a sympathetic family as a victim it could have another negative effect ranging from ShootTheDog to CrossesTheLineTwice. Which could also turn off certain viewers as well, [[AcceptableTargets which possibly explain the constant obnoxious jerk characters as a substitute]]. Horror films (especially mainstream American horror films) like to be broadly appealing. You can't have a popular horror film where {{exp|y}}ies of Series/TheWaltons and [[Series/TheCosbyShow the Cosbys]] are brutally murdered by the Psycho/Demon/Werewolf/Vampire/Alien. By going in this direction (and invoking this trope), the writers and directors are missing the point of "horror." You can't truly feel horrified at a given situation if you don't give a damn about its victims. One way to sidestep all this is to have a horror film where the "victims" are sympathetic people ''and'' the monster is defeated in the end but [[JokerImmunity there's still a chance it could come back]]; everybody wins that way. (''Film/{{Leprechaun}}'', for example.)

* The genre of suburban/middle-class peril: films from ''Film/FatalAttraction'' to ''Cache/Hidden'' suffer from the fact that their heroes are smug and successful without any moral virtues or other good qualities to endear them to the audience.

* Two words: ''Film/TheRoom''. Johnny is a wuss, Lisa is incredibly stupid and callous, Mark eventually ends up fighting Johnny as a result, and Denny [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse may or may not have drug problems]]. The writing and acting don't help, either.

* Any movie that centers on drugs or drug addicts (such as ''Film/LessThanZero'') has a high chance of carrying this trope because there is no point in caring for a character who has doomed his/herself to begin with by becoming addicted.

* A lot of the works of the CoenBrothers (as an example, ''TheManWhoWasntThere'') are loaded with an absurd amount of BlackComedy... ''way'' too absurd. Horrible people doing horrible things in an IdiotPlot that will most probably end with them dying horrible deaths... or worse yet, becoming an IdiotHoudini that will most probably carry on without having learnt anything. Or worse yet, good people will be driven through the wringer to the point that they come out the other side [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy maddened into becoming]] TheAntiNihilist... when they come out alive.

* A lot of the works of the CoenBrothers (as an example, ''TheManWhoWasntThere'') are loaded with an absurd amount of BlackComedy... ''way'' too absurd. Horrible people doing horrible things in an IdiotPlot that will most probably end with them dying horrible deaths... or worse yet, becoming an IdiotHoudini that will most probably carry on without having learnt anything.

* ''Film/KickAss'' got this treatment from some (though not as much as the comic, listed above), particularly once a child (albeit [[LittleMissBadass a heavily armed one]] [[LaserGuidedTykebomb who kills people without mercy]]) gets brutally beaten. ''Film/KickAss2'', on the other hand, was straight-up described as "unpleasant" by many reviewers and viewers, for being DarkerAndEdgier, BloodierAndGorier, and making characters both [[HappyEndingOverride suffer after finishing the first movie well]], and behave more as jerks as a result (culminating in Hit-Girl [[spoiler:making a GirlPosse [[BrownNote vomit and defecate profusely]]]]).

* ''Film/ThreeHundred''. The narrator described the Spartans as [[AlwaysLawfulGood the ultimate good guys]]. Because of his {{unreliab|leNarrator}}ility, though, it turns out the Spartans were just as [[AxCrazy insane]] and {{blood|Knight}}thirsty as their Persian enemies. Because of that, while the narrator described the battles between the Spartans and Persians as "good vs. evil" (or "order vs. chaos" if you prefer), to audience members, it seemed more like "[[EvilVersusEvil bad guys vs.]] [[BlackAndGrayMorality worse guys]]."

* Any movie that centers on drugs or drug addicts (such as ''Less Than Zero'') has a high chance of carrying this trope because there is no point in caring for a character who has doomed his/herself to begin with by becoming addicted.

* The ''Film/FinalDestination'' series has this problem involving the second variant of this trope. There's no point in getting emotionally attached to them or rooting for them to make it, because the rules say death will not be cheated and they're all going to die. Even finding out the reason why the visions that allow the characters to cheat death happen can add to this trope. Hoping for some kind of BigGood to this series or something similar? [[spoiler: Nope. It was Death doing it all along, and then killing them later because... [[ForTheEvulz I dunno, he's a dick.]]]]

* ''Film/{{Showgirls}}'': Las Vegas may not be all glitz and glamor, but it's really hard to root for the main character when she and everybody else act like terrible people, swear constantly, and have an overall cynical view. The only character that makes a positive effort is Molly and even she can't escape the bleak underbelly of Vegas since [[spoiler:she gets raped]].

* ''Film/MenaceIISociety''. The film itself invokes this trope. There is no point getting emotionally attached to any of the main cast of the film, as it is a dark representation of how dangerous the neighborhoods of Watts, California are. The main character (Caine) embraces the life of a criminal, his best friend O-Dog is a terrible person who has no justifiable motivation for his sadism and murder, the same applies to the other members of the gang. Given that, it is very difficult to truly sympathize with most of the main characters, [[EvilVersusEvil especially when you consider that they are all practically at war with gangsters like them.]]
* ''Film/ThePrestige'' suffered from this. Nolan didn't really give the audience enough clues about who the real protagonist was (the one we actually wanted to see win), because both main characters acted rather heinously at times. It isn't until the end when one character triumphs that the audience goes "Oh, I guess he was the good guy all along", and by then, we're not sure if we should be happy or angry about the outcome. This one is particularly tricky because [[spoiler:we don't know which twin was doing what throughout the movie. All we can really be sure of is that the brother that gets executed tried to save Angier from drowning. For all we know, the one that survives was responsible for all the worst things "Alfred" Borden did. About the only HopeSpot is that the surviving twin says he was the one who loved Sarah, which ''might'' indicate that he was Jess's real father and that he will work hard to give her a good life.]] It should be noted that the original which it was based on had two completely different protagonists who were the offspring of the magicians and were trying to reconcile why their families have been at odds for so long. The documents they find show that both men made a great deal of mistakes that led to being equally to blame. It also had a different ending.
* ''Film/{{Showgirls}}'': Las Vegas may not be all glitz and glamor, but it's really hard to root for the main character when she and everybody else act like terrible people, swear constantly, and have an overall cynical view. The only character that makes a positive effort is Molly and even she can't escape the bleak underbelly of Vegas since [[spoiler:she gets raped]].
* Two words: ''Film/TheRoom''. Johnny is a wuss, Lisa is incredibly stupid and callous, Mark eventually ends up fighting Johnny as a result, and Denny [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse may or may not have drug problems]]. The writing and acting don't help, either.
* Any movie that centers around drugs or drug addicts (such as ''Less Than Zero'') has a high chance of carrying this trope because there is no point in caring for a character who has doomed his/herself to begin with by becoming addicted.
* ''Film/LandOfTheDead''. HumansAreTheRealMonsters is taken to an extreme, and the alternative is to root for the zombies, who are quite obviously still dangerous undead predators that nobody sane would want to see receive anything other than bullets in the brain. However, the entire series was building up to this kind of setting.
* ''Film/BeingJohnMalkovich'' suffers from this; all the main characters are, at the very least, horrifically selfish human beings who don't really care who gets hurt in pursuit of their various wants. The only remotely sympathetic character in the movie is Creator/JohnMalkovich himself, and that's mostly because he's more of a plot device than an actual character. For the uninitiated, [[spoiler: Creator/CharlieSheen(!) has, by the end of the movie, very likely learned that John Malkovich is trapped in his own head while other people dominate him, and he is likely going to follow the puppetmasters who are possessing Malkovich into the next host, an adorable and harmless seven year old girl.]]
* A common problem in horror movies: [[DevelopingDoomedCharacters the cast of potential victims is presented]] as a bunch of [[JerkAss obnoxious jerks]], and/or [[TooDumbToLive complete idiots,]] to the point where it's hard to feel bad for them when they finally start dying. [[RootingForTheEmpire Although for many that's part of the appeal]]. Case in point: British horror film ''Cherry Tree Lane''. A dreary middle-class couple bicker. Yobs break into their house and torture them. Who cares? Even viewers who like this sort of film would be surprised if one of them was genuinely scary. On the other hand, if the horror movie has a sympathetic family as a victim it could have another negative effect ranging from ShootTheDog to CrossesTheLineTwice. Which could also turn off certain viewers as well, [[AcceptableTargets which possibly explain the constant obnoxious jerk characters as a substitute]]. Horror films (especially mainstream American horror films) like to be broadly appealing. You can't have a popular horror film where {{exp|y}}ies of Series/TheWaltons and [[Series/TheCosbyShow the Cosbys]] are brutally murdered by the Psycho/Demon/Werewolf/Vampire/Alien. By going in this direction (and invoking this trope), the writers and directors are missing the point of "horror." You can't truly feel horrified at a given situation if you don't give a damn about its victims. One way to sidestep all this is to have a horror film where the "victims" are sympathetic people ''and'' the monster is defeated in the end but [[JokerImmunity there's still a chance it could come back]]; everybody wins that way. (''Film/{{Leprechaun}}'', for example.)
* The genre of suburban/middle-class peril: films from ''Film/FatalAttraction'' to ''Cache/Hidden'' suffer from the fact that their heroes are smug and successful without any moral virtues or other good qualities to endear them to the audience.
* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' had this problem, with ''everyone'' backstabbing each other and shifting alliances on a whim that it got hard to root for anyone by the end. Of course, such a thing should be expected, given that the protagonists are all pirates by this point, even Will and Elizabeth. Even so, the climax of the film had them cheer about how pirates represent freedom and such... [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop when they pillage and murder]]. Hardly heroic.
* ''Film/ThreeHundred''. The narrator described the Spartans as [[AlwaysLawfulGood the ultimate good guys]]. Because of his {{unreliab|leNarrator}}ility, though, it turns out the Spartans were just as [[AxCrazy insane]] and {{blood|Knight}}thirsty as their Persian enemies. Because of that, while the narrator described the battles between the Spartans and Persians as "good vs. evil" (or "order vs. chaos" if you prefer), to audience members, it seemed more like "[[EvilVersusEvil bad guys vs.]] [[BlackAndGrayMorality worse guys]]."
* Also based on Creator/FrankMiller, ''Film/SinCity''. Hartigan is the only guy who's close to good, Nancy is a NeutralFemale, and all the other characters alternate between "amoral bastards" (Marv, Dwight, The Girls of Old Town) to "amoral monsters" (the people they're up against).
* ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen''; at least for more sensible viewers who are not cheering Clyde on after he's murdering attorneys, judges and lawyers indiscriminately. He's initially seen as sympathetic, because Darby killed his wife, daughter and got away with it by paying off Clyde's attorney, but after the aforementioned slaughter during the movie's second half? Not so much. The members of the justice system come off no better, as they're unilaterally portrayed as [[StrawCharacter horrible individuals who couldn't care less about enacting true justice than do stuff that only benefits them]]. Well, except for Cindy, [[spoiler: though she dies too]]. [[EvilVersusEvil No side looks any better than the other near the film's end]]. Nick, very conspicuously, has ethical issues with his job. He's suppressed most of them by the TimeSkip, but Clyde brings them roaring back.
* The ''Film/FinalDestination'' series has this problem involving the second variant of this trope. There's no point in getting emotionally attached to them or rooting for them to make it, because the rules say death will not be cheated and they're all going to die. Even finding out the reason why the visions that allow the characters to cheat death happen can add to this trope. Hoping for some kind of BigGood to this series or something similar? [[spoiler: Nope. It was Death doing it all along, and then killing them later because... [[ForTheEvulz I dunno, he's a dick.]]]]

* Part of the reason the Creator/JamesCameron[=/=]Creator/GuillermoDelToro film of ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness'' was canceled (the other part was an out-of-control-budget)--it's an R-rated horror film about two races of fighting {{Eldritch Abomination}}s who pay no mind to the doomed humans, and, unlike, ''Underworld'' there isn't even a romantic plotline to root for. It's also possible the execs thought it was just ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' [[RecycledInSpace with tentacles and penguins.]] Besides, with the mentioned war between two alien species, the black semiliquid polyvalent stuff that shoggoths are made of, and a group of human scientists exploring eldritch ancient ruins, they wanted to avoid being labelled DuelingMovies with ''Film/{{Prometheus}}''.
* Some critics said ''[[Film/AmericasSweethearts America's Sweethearts]]'' had this problem. Among the main characters in the title, Eddie is a ticking time bomb ([[JerkassWoobie although it's understandable, given the headline-making breakup]]) and Gwen is an unapproachable, manipulative RichBitch [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking who can't even put ankle boots on right]]. Among the side characters, the agent played by Billy Crystal is mining all the drama for his own benefit. The only likable character is Gwen's sister mainly because she has to put up with Gwen and is just beginning to grow a backbone after losing a bunch of weight but her goal is to get together with Eddie so it doesn't really matter.
* This could be the reason why ''Film/WelcomeToTheDollhouse'' and other films by Creator/ToddSolondz have never gotten much mainstream attention. Everyone, seemingly without exception, is profoundly miserable, solipsistic, or sociopathic. Sometimes, they are ''all three''.
* An older example of this trope can be found in the Universal movie ''Film/HouseOfFrankenstein''. The characters aren't very likeable (with the possible exception of [[JerkassWoobie Daniel]]), the story is rather cynical, and in the end, [[KillEmAll everybody dies]]. Not even Svengoolie's SoBadItsGood sense of humor could save this one.

* Ask a person who was around in UsefulNotes/TheEighties about this trope, odds are their answer will be ''Film/ToLiveAndDieInLA'' [[SociopathicHero Richard Chance]] is really not that different on the morality scale from his quarry, Rick Masters, and many of the characters are slimy or apathetic. John Vukovich is seemingly the only guy with some normal standards of goodness, but by the time the film's DownerEnding comes around, [[spoiler: he's become just as bad, if not ''worse'', than Chance himself.]]

* ''Film/KenPark''. We have a [[PosthumousCharacter dead title character]], [[IBangedYourMom a literal motherfucker]], a DumbJock, [[AsianHookerStereotype an oversexed Asian-American girl]], and a violent [[TheSociopath sociopath]] and sadist [[spoiler:who later kills his grandparents]]. The supporting cast isn't any better, leading [[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]] to ask "Is every single character in the film a loathsome cad?!" And the only remotely likable characters in the whole movie? [[spoiler: They're the grandparents. And their grandson gets an erection from stabbing them to death. Yeah...]]
* ''Film/ToEndAllWars'' suffered this, [[WordOfGod apparently]], before the film was recut to lighten it a bit. The directors cut is even further lightened, cutting short the [[{{Bowdlerize}} most violent moments as well as the strongest language]].

* From what can be perceived from some of Creator/OliverStone movies, it's as if he can't go a single movie without having at least one scene with this trope in play. The most particular would have to be ''Film/{{Platoon}}'' (which, ironically, won Best Picture in 1986), where in it, the American soldiers themselves were a bunch of {{Sociopathic Soldier}}s (with the exception of Sgt. Elias Grodin and Pvt. Chris Taylor), who made themselves out to be as bad as the Vietnamese soldiers they were up against. They finally crossed the MoralEventHorizon, when they raided the Vietnamese village and nearly attempted to massacre the villagers there. This leaves only the aforementioned Elias and Taylor as the remaining sympathetic characters left, and even then, there's no point in caring about the war they're in.
* John Singleton's ''Film/HigherLearning'', his follow-up to the Oscar-winning ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'' and to ''Poetic Justice'', was not a great success because not only did it contain an embarrassing amount of {{Narm}}, but almost all the characters were hard to like. (Like ''Film/TheBirthOfANation'', to which it has occasionally been compared, this is a movie in which the black characters are bad and the white characters are worse.) In fact, the only two truly sympathetic characters were a college professor whose role is fairly minor and a female student-athlete who is killed by [[spoiler: being shot in the stomach]]--extremely unfair, since [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth she has not hurt or even acted rudely to a single person throughout the movie]]. Everyone else is at best a {{Jerkass}}, InnocentlyInsensitive, or just generally irresponsible. Then there's the girl's murderer, a VillainProtagonist of sorts, who is not heroic by any measure; however, we're led to understand how [[JerkassWoobie he became extremely frustrated and then enraged]] by his CrapsackWorld environment. Life at the college campus is so miserable, in fact, that in the end [[DesignatedHero the nominal hero of the story]] [[spoiler: just gives up and runs away]], which is hardly a heroic thing to do.
* Although Paul Verhoeven's ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is partly a comedy, it is very dark comedy that suggests that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are as animalistic as any other creature in outer space]]. Although the genocidal alien bugs are clearly the bad guys (although there are some hints that they're actually just scapegoats for human propaganda), [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the humans have become arrogant and brutal in the course of fighting them]]. Condemned criminals are executed on live TV, computer websites pump users full of [[PatrioticFervor overbearing propaganda reminiscent of World War II newsreels]], schoolchildren are encouraged to gleefully stomp on helpless insects in a form of FantasticRacism, people are denied citizenship rights if they do not serve in the military, the {{drill sergeant|Nasty}} at the infantry boot camp is a bully (okay, sometimes a JerkWithAHeartOfGold) who seems to enjoy [[EqualOpportunityEvil physically humiliating both male and female recruits]], [[DisproportionateRetribution soldiers are punched in the face for uttering mildly rude remarks]], and the protagonist is at one point stripped to the waist and [[ATasteOfTheLash receives 10 lashes across his bare back]] in full view of the entire camp as punishment for ''accidentally'' causing a comrade's death. It should be noted that the film is an inversion of [[Literature/StarshipTroopers the original novel]], in which the only executed criminal is a serviceman who has shamed his unit by his actions, the drill sergeant is more inclined to lecture than to torture, and the protagonist was originally whipped for actions that could have caused the death of a comrade through his negligence.
* Creator/TimBurton directed a few.
** ''Film/BatmanReturns'' failed to live up to the expectations set by its predecessor, and much of that was because all four of the main characters--including Batman himself--are murderous brutes. Some of them really are fighting for justice, but only occasionally do they do anything truly heroic--and the few characters that have no moral flaws, such as Commissioner Gordon and the Mayor, are [[StupidGood so ineffectual it's hard to see them as heroes]]. That leaves Alfred Pennyworth as the one character you can comfortably root for--and, let's face it, an elderly man isn't going to be seen as a role model by most people.
** Besides the catchy tunes, ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' is a movie about a [[VillainProtagonist guy bent on revenge who kills people on the path to the]] DirtyOldMan who arrested him without reason to take his wife and daughter, and a woman who uses the victims [[IAmAHumanitarian on her pie shop...]] [[spoiler:and who so as to get a chance at a romance with Sweeney hid the fact that his wife, the reason for the whole carnage, was still alive.]] The perpetually bluish-gray color scheme does nothing to lighten the mood, either.
** Inverted in ''Film/MarsAttacks''. All but a half dozen or so characters (and even they have pretty glaring flaws) are pompous, insensitive, immoral, or just plain stupid--but that's okay, because the whole point of the movie is [[ComedicSociopathy you get to see the Martians kill all these jerks in countless hilarious ways]].
* ''Film/EightHeadsInADuffelBag'': The [[DesignatedHero "hero"]] is a vicious criminal and all-around meanie, and everyone else is either a smart-aleck or [[TheScrappy so cartoonish that it's hard to view them as anything but annoying]].
* [[Music/RobZombie Rob Zombie's]] [[Film/{{Halloween2007}} Halloween remake]] and [[Film/HalloweenII2009 its sequel]] suffer from making almost every character an unlikeable {{Jerkass}}, even [[UpToEleven more so than the average slasher film]]. The few characters who aren't Jerkasses at the start either become one by the end of the second film or disappear from the plot as quickly as possible.
* Creator/LloydKaufman faced this problem when writing ''Health Club Horror''. He wanted to have the monster only kill bad people (which was an idea left over from an unfilmed script he worked on the previous decade with Creator/StanLee), but the monster was also a bad guy. His solution was to make the monster a hero, and make the movie a comedy. Thus, ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' was born.

* This is the ultimate fate of Gus Van Sant's ''Film/{{Gerry}}''. The movie really doesn't give the audience any motivation to care for the two, as what little dialogue is awashed by entire stretches of silence and the whole situation being caused by their incredible shortsightedness. In the end, the movie only serves as a test for patience until Damon!Gerry kills Affleck!Gerry and finds civilization just before the credits roll. Creator/BradJones described the movie as being nothing more than "sand and walking".

* The war drama ''Film/{{Conspiracy}}'' about the Wannsee Conference is a dramatization of a historical event that ended in the genocide of millions, which is [[ForegoneConclusion clear from the start]]. Every major character in the film is [[BlackAndBlackMorality a heinous war criminal so morally bankrupt]] that there's no one left to root for. The only one who somewhat maintains audience sympathy for [[EvenEvilHasStandards feeling they're crossing a line]] is blackmailed into submission by much scarier men. It concludes with the revelation that [[ShaggyDogStory the discussion was entirely pointless]] and Heydrich was going to carry out the Holocaust anyway. Finally, most of the Nazis [[KarmaHoudini never received any comeuppance]] and went on to live uneventful lives after the war.
* One possible reason why ''Film/TheCounselor'' received many mediocre reviews; There aren't many people to root for. Most of the characters are bad guys/girls, and the titular character is somewhat naive and foolish.
* ''Film/KickAss'' got this treatment from some (though not as much as the comic, listed above), particularly once a child (albeit [[LittleMissBadass a heavily armed one]] [[LaserGuidedTykebomb who kills people without mercy]]) gets brutally beaten. ''Film/KickAss2'', on the other hand, was straight-up described as "unpleasant" by many reviewers and viewers, for being DarkerAndEdgier, BloodierAndGorier, and making characters both [[HappyEndingOverride suffer after finishing the first movie well]], and behave more as jerks as a result (culminating in Hit-Girl [[spoiler:making a GirlPosse [[BrownNote vomit and defecate profusely]]]]).
* Discussed in [[http://www.businessinsider.com/the-monsters-are-more-important-than-the-humans-in-disaster-movies-2014-5 this article]] on ''Business Insider'' about ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'' and other monster and disaster movies. Anne Billson notes that the reason Franchise/{{Godzilla}} is a more interesting character than most of the humans is because we don't really want to get emotionally attached to people who are going to be killed later in the midst of catastrophe. We're willing to accept uninteresting characters who are either BornLucky when it comes to surviving the violent events or who don't get much development before their demises because we prefer that to being genuinely heartbroken by all the misery, tragedy and death.
* This was a common criticism leveled against ''Film/TheButterflyEffect'', with many reviewers claiming that it was so oppressively dark that it almost became [[{{Narm}} hard to take seriously]]. The entire first half-hour of the movie is a nonstop TraumaCongaLine for the main character, where he's nearly strangled by his institutionalized father, gets molested by his neighbor, accidentally murders a woman and her baby with dynamite, watches his dog get tied up in a sack and burned to death, sees his best friend lose his mind, and receives news that the love of his life has committed suicide. The rest of the movie follows his attempts to make everything better with time-travel...[[FromBadToWorse which end up making it]] ''[[FromBadToWorse worse]]''.
* ''Film/ItLivesByNight'': Between asshole John, whiny Cathy and pervy Sheriff Ward, there's no one to identify with. That, and the ''actual'' darkness, as the lighting in the film is pretty awful, too.
* Those that don't like Creator/WoodyAllen's ''Film/MatchPoint'' often cite this as a reason: the murder victim is clingy and whiny, the murderer himself is an unrepentant scumbag, and the other characters are, for the most part, [[UpperClassTwit Upper-Class Twits]].