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- With recent movies like Tár and Triangle of Sadness, it's clear that abstract villains aren't going anywhere. Filmmakers are constantly innovating on redefining what an antagonist is supposed to and can be in movies, giving audiences unique and thought-provoking stories in the process.
Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers.Every good movie needs a good villain, or so you'd assume. More often than not, a movie is only as good as its villain, as they'll usually be what drives the conflict of a story, or present an obstacle for the heroes to overcome. Therefore, the evil characters are often more vital than the heroic ones; without something to combat, what would the heroes even do for their movie? And would it be in any way interesting to watch?
Sometimes, the answer is yes. It could still be interesting to watch, so long as the more traditional "villain" character is replaced by some other force altogether. The following eight films provide conflict and drama for the heroes through something other than an evil or villainous character. Some obstacles and forces drive the story, but they're more abstract or internal. They may force the heroes to survive or learn their way out of a situation instead of fighting their way to victory, as they might when combating a more straightforward villain.
Updated on November 30th, 2022, by Hannah Saab:
With recent movies like Tár and Triangle of Sadness, it's clear that abstract villains aren't going anywhere. Filmmakers are constantly innovating on redefining what an antagonist is supposed to and can be in movies, giving audiences unique and thought-provoking stories in the process.
'Inside Out' (2015)
Available to stream on Disney+
Pixar is known for its emotional movies, as well as having straightforward good vs. evil stories. The studio's films, while being great for adults, are ultimately intended for kids, after all. Inside Out, however, only fully commits to the emotional side of Pixar while bucking the trend by featuring no clear evil character as the villain.
The film leans into unbalanced emotions, the difficulties associated with changing one's lifestyle in youth, and the threat of emotionally shutting down and essentially falling into depression. Even the personified emotion of Sadness is not a villain, as the film shows sadness itself is a necessary emotion to have at times and is central to the human condition. Heavy stuff for a kid's film, but it's presented well and in a way that simplifies such concepts whilst still being honest about them.
'The Dish' (2000)
The Dish is an Australian film based on a true story, depicting how the Parkes Observatory - situated outside a rural town in New South Wales - was instrumental in broadcasting the Apollo 11 footage of the first landing on the moon in 1969. Said broadcast itself was, of course, one of the most important live TV broadcasts in history.
There are numerous obstacles to getting the Observatory properly set up and prepared to undertake this momentous task. Still, there aren't any evil or backstabbing characters that want to stand in the way. People are generally cooperative throughout, and really, the closest abstract elements that could be classified as non-human "villains" might be the remoteness of the location, the cultural barriers between NASA scientists and Australian locals, and some bad weather.
'The Martian' (2015)
Available to rent on Apple TV.
The Martian is an incredible science-fiction movie that doesn't feature alien invaders, sci-fi creatures, or even evil, sentient robots in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Instead, it derives tension from having its main character stranded on Mars, following his efforts to survive in isolation and the mission undertaken by those back on Earth to travel into space and rescue him.
Space itself is a scary enough villain, in all honesty. Space is certainly not a person or a character. Still, the idea of being on a different planet all by yourself is a frightening enough one without having to add any additional foes, and The Martian works well as a tense survival movie because of that.
'The Tree of Life' (2011)
Available to rent on Apple TV.
Often considered to be one of the best films from the legendary Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life is an incredibly ambitious and mind-expanding film. It focuses on one family in Texas during the 1950s but also goes back billions of years in time to show the birth of the universe while flashing forward in time to look at what the future and/or the afterlife holds for the human race (it all depends on a viewer's reading of the film, really).
Malick is most concerned with exploring life and its challenges for ordinary people, meaning there's no real need for outwardly evil characters. Brad Pitt's role as a strict father does make him the closest the film has to a villain, but rather than making him a monster, Malick chooses to juxtapose his (likely) well-meaning but sometimes overbearing parenting style with the lighter, more free-spirited parenting style of the family's mother, played by Jessica Chastain. If there's a definable conflict in the film, it's this clash of differing approaches to raising children.
'Gravity' (2013)
Available to stream on HBO Max.
Gravity is a fast-paced movie about two astronauts bombarded with space debris while on a routine mission and the lengths they have to go to survive in space. Given that space debris comes from one nation's choice to shoot down their satellite, you could argue they're villainous, but they're not depicted on screen, and it wasn't their intention to place the film's main characters in the situation they end up in.
The focus is on surviving in space and returning to Earth, meaning the dangers of space are more than enough of an antagonistic force for the film. Any attempts to add in an extra villainous force would have distracted from Gravity's tension and simple yet thrilling premise. The intense focus on survival was to the film's benefit.
'Requiem for a Dream' (2000)
Available to rent on Apple TV.
In Requiem for a Dream, the main villain for the four main characters is addiction. Sure, minor characters and other forces within the film don't exactly help their situation. Still, the film is about battling various forms of drug addiction and presenting the horrific consequences that can come from a dependence on substances that may provide short-term benefits while also presenting long-term consequences.
This focus on fighting addiction and personal demons allow Requiem for a Dream to get under your skin and be a difficult and stressful film to watch. We understand how the spiral of addiction can happen and are presented with some of the worst possible outcomes for someone struggling to survive. The battle to maintain one's mental and physical health here makes for a more compelling and harrowing film than any more traditional human villain in a story like this would.
'All Is Lost' (2013)
Available to stream on Peacock Premium.
Robert Redford plays a man on a yacht in All Is Lost. He's completely by himself, and no other actor is seen for the whole film. Most of the film deals with his survival while in isolation, as his yacht becomes damaged, and he has to do whatever he can to stop it from sinking, surviving long enough to be rescued or somehow make it back to shore.
Because Redford is the only one on-screen, there isn't even anyone else who could be loosely interpreted as a villain. The antagonist, in a sense, is the bad luck that leads to the yacht getting damaged, the rough elements at sea that could lead to the protagonist drowning, and the fact he's mortal. It's about as minimalist and villain-free as a survival movie can get.
'The Towering Inferno' (1974)
Available to rent on AMC on Demand.
The Towering Inferno is a classic disaster movie that features a fire breaking out in a 138-floor tall skyscraper, with characters who fight to survive the fire and characters on the ground who have to figure out how best to rescue those trapped inside.
People just want to survive, so everyone puts aside their differences to face the primary threat: a giant fire and the immense danger/claustrophobia it causes to those unlucky enough to be inside the skyscraper. In a sense, the villain is an out-of-control and terrifying fire, enough to keep things interesting and exciting.
'Triangle' (2009)
Available to stream on Peacock.
Triangle is an underrated slow burn horror movie that follows Jess (Melissa George) and her friends as they go on an ill-fated boating trip. After a mysterious storm forces them to leave their boat, they're seemingly rescued by a derelict ocean liner with no one on board. They soon learn in a horrific way that there's something sinister about the ship.
While it's eventually revealed that the killer on board is actually Jess, the true enemy is actually the time loop that she's stuck on. A heartbreaking twist shows that the only way she can save her son back at home is to keep going on the boating trip, murdering her friends, and dying while letting the next version of her know that she has to kill everyone. It's a unique concept with flawed execution, but the film is worth watching for the suspenseful atmosphere.
'Triangle of Sadness' (2022)
Starring Woody Harrelson, Harris Dickinson, Vicki Berlin, Dolly de Leon, Zlatko Burić, Henrik Dorsin and Charlbi Dean (in her final role), Triangle of Sadness is a wholly original and gut-busting satirical comedy that's also a disaster movie. The film is centered on a group of ultra-rich passengers and two models on a luxury cruise that goes wrong and leaves the survivors on an island.
The villain in the film could arguably be the storm that wreaks havoc on the boat or even the pirates who ransack it, but it's mostly the social and class structures that separate the haves from the have-nots. It's an examination of the way this is flipped when the wealthy guests have to rely on the lowly crew member Abigail (de Leon), who's the only one among them with survival skills. It's a humorous, philosophical, and relevant masterpiece that continues and fits right into the growing selection eat-the-rich films from recent years.