Most movies do anything they can to avoid being boring. Unnecessary scenes will be cut, action scenes may be frequent, and pacing will be kept as tight as possible. Most on-screen stories benefit from having a constant sense of forward momentum, ensuring that anyone who experiences them will be entertained, and come away feeling like the movie they just watched was worth their time.

On the other side of things, the following movies don't subscribe to this idea. These are films that intend to bore viewers, either throughout the entire film or simply at certain points during its runtime, emerging as movies that challenge viewers by encouraging them to sit with an unwanted feeling. Here, the boredom viewers may feel is due to a deliberate decision by the filmmakers, and not necessarily because they've failed as storytellers. Such films are ranked below, not quite in terms of how "boring" they are, but how worthy of one's time they are.

10 'Weekend' (1967)

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard

Jean-Luc Godard was considered to be one of the most popular of all the French New Wave directors, and while some of his films had a certain degree of mass appeal, others were incredibly challenging. Weekend is one of those Godard films that's incredibly challenging, and it's one of those films that easier to begrudgingly admire than it is to actually enjoy.

Weekend is a satirical look at the wealthy and their lack of morals, and pushes things into increasingly violent territory as it goes along. A long stretch of the film involves the main characters getting stuck in a huge traffic jam before getting lost, with a plot that deliberately stops and starts, and sequences that certainly take their time. Knowing Godard and his provocative style, this was almost certainly intentional.

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9 'Gerry' (2002)

Directed by Gus Van Sant

Gerry is pretty much known as the movie where Matt Damon and Casey Affleck walk through a desert for almost two hours. What begins as a hike soon turns into a struggle for survival, seeing as they begin their journey into the desert without proper supplies, and get hopelessly lost in very little time.

It is well-shot and contains two solid lead performances, though that might not be enough for some viewers. It is a movie that makes you feel as though you also experience the time its characters spend lost, and so naturally, it can feel slow, meandering, and empty... all feelings you'd expect to feel while lost in a desert wilderness. Gerry is a minor classic from 2002, and is worth watching for those who are in the mood for something very patiently paced, contemplative, and oddly eerie.

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8 'Funny Games' (1997)

Directed by Michael Haneke

A home invasion thriller that calls out its audience for wanting to see a violent movie, Funny Games is anything but a comedy. Funny Games is dark, depressing, and ultimately unsatisfying on most levels, intentionally depriving the viewer of standard thrills or suspense, and making them question why they want to see such things (often by breaking the fourth wall). That's pretty much all there is to Funny Games, but it's certainly uncompromising and successful in achieving that message while making viewers feel overall pretty rotten.

Interestingly, director Michael Haneke did an American remake of his 1997 original in 2007, changing little besides the cast and making the dialogue English. As such, the message of the movie was able to reach a whole other market, and make even more people experience something far more dull and depressing than they were probably hoping to see.

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7 'The Brown Bunny' (2003)

Directed by Vincent Gallo

While making The Brown Bunny isn't the only controversial thing filmmaker/actor Vincent Gallo has done, it's probably the most infamous. This 2003 film is a slow-paced meditation on loneliness and the struggles of connecting with other people, and its overall structure and narrative are very loose, to say the least.

It's a movie that's not only unafraid to make viewers feel glum, empty, and sometimes uncomfortable; it all but insists on making those watching feel that way. It's understandably the kind of movie some connect with and others detest, and many things about the movie suggest it was supposed to be at least a little divisive. The Brown Bunny is an uncomfortable and alienating watch, but that's certainly by design, making the movie an effective exploration of loneliness and isolation.

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6 'Stalker' (1979)

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

Perhaps the most famous film by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky was 1979's Stalker. It has a reputation for being among the greatest science-fiction movies of all time, though it's noticeably less action-packed and explosive than many of the genre's best-known movies. Instead of flashy thrills, Stalker is a more psychological and philosophical take on the genre than what audiences might be used to, making it a dense, cerebral viewing experience, and one of the most potentially profound sci-fi movies of all time.

It might not be fair to label the whole thing as boring, but some stretches of Stalker are patience-testing. This is confirmed by Tarkovsky himself, who was even quoted as saying that Stalker needed "to be slower and duller at the start so that the viewers who walked into the wrong theater have time to leave before the main action starts.”

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5 'Sátántangó' (1994)

Directed by Béla Tarr

With a deserving reputation as one of the most challenging films of all time, Sátántangó is an undeniably exhausting watch. Sátántangó's runtime exceeds seven hours, and its pacing is remarkably slow, with the film centering on a small village in Hungary whose inhabitants are dealing with financial and emotional hardships after the fall of Communism.

There are certainly characters to follow and a collection of subplots, which signifies that Sátántangó could hypothetically be more experimental. However, it's guaranteed to be challenging and intense enough for the vast majority of viewers, with filmmaker Béla Tarr doing a brutally effective job of making viewers experience the same feelings of boredom, isolation, and despair that the characters feel. As far as great 1994 movie releases go (a very strong year for cinema), Sátántangó is arguably one of the most striking.

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4 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles' (1975)

Directed by Chantal Akerman

An astoundingly long movie well over three hours that's mostly about doing housework and running errands over three days, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is a critically beloved - and quite tedious - film. The tedium is absolutely the point, though, and the key reason why this 1975 release is considered such a classic of international/arthouse cinema.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles aims to shed light on the life of housewives and single mothers, here represented by the title character, Jeanne Dielman. Viewers are made to appreciate all the work from mothers that go into supporting others, and so too is she shown getting little appreciation for it. It's a challenging movie that aims to show a reality of life not often seen on screen, and so for that reason, conveying a sense of tedium is essential.

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3 'Paterson' (2016)

Directed by Jim Jarmusch

When it comes to films that aim to wholeheartedly show life's simple pleasures, few commit as much as Paterson. It's a peaceful, meditative movie about a man with a quiet life and a rigid routine, though he's found a great deal of peace and contentment with it.

He drives a bus, spends time with his wife, walks his dog, spends time alone with his own thoughts, and writes poetry. There's not a whole lot more to the movie than that, with very minimal drama or conflict throughout. Paterson works wonderfully as a look at how one man achieved peace and happiness, and though some may call it boring, others may find its refreshing stance on life hopeful or even inspiring. A big reason for Paterson being so compelling - despite the slowness - is because it features one of Adam Driver's best-ever performances.

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2 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' (2019)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino took a break from ultra-violence (for the most part) with his apparently penultimate film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's a 2.5+ hour hangout movie, for the most part, transporting viewers back to Hollywood during the late 1960s and focusing on the endearing friendship between an out-of-fashion actor and his loyal stuntman.

It captures a breezier and more carefree time, being perhaps Tarantino's most comedy-heavy movie, and represents the idealized way of life back then by slowing things down when it comes to pacing and letting viewers soak up the world without having to worry about narrative all the time. It's the kind of movie that could challenge those who want a snappier narrative, but those who can engage with the experience the movie is trying to give are likely to be truly immersed and engaged.

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1 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968)

Directed by Sergio Leone

It's important to note that while Once Upon a Time in the West is a deliberately paced movie throughout, it's certainly not a frequently boring one. Most viewers who are okay with things taking a little more time than usual should still find themselves engrossed, as it's a gripping epic Western about revenge, corruption, and the slow death of the Old West itself. Once Upon a Time in the West is one of many classic films directed by Sergio Leone, himself an all-time great director.

It's the film's iconic opening sequence that aims to capture a sense of boredom. Several gunmen wait at an isolated railway station for a train to arrive. They're there for about 15 minutes before it does (the opening credits playing throughout), and the viewers are forced to wait with them in real-time. Once Upon a Time in the West is slow but audacious, and surprisingly engaging in its own way - and suspenseful - even if it is technically a scene about boredom.

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