Movie musicals can absolutely be filled with joy and humor, but they also don’t have to be. Something like Singin’ in the Rain tells a story with stakes, but keeps the drama mild, and the amount of comedy and romance high. Other movie musicals might have more by way of life or death stakes (see the family-friendly The Lion King), but a sense of triumph by the end; of obstacles overcome.
Musicals can be funny or inspiring, and then others get unusually heavy. The following fit more into the latter camp, though they’re noteworthy – and being included here – because they’re all quite intense. It’s a bit different from a musical being frightening or sad, though some of the following tense musicals do also evoke those other kinds of unhappy emotions, at times.
10
‘Phantom of the Paradise’ (1974)
As a director who clearly took inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock, it’s not too surprising to find that there are many Brian De Palma films that are intense. But maybe less expected is the fact that his filmography houses a musical, Phantom of the Paradise, which is an exceptionally strange one, too. It’s sort of a comedy, there’s a ton of excess, and the plot mixes in influences from both The Phantom of the Opera and the legend of Faust.
So, it’s a weird one, of course, and there’s a persistently unsettling energy throughout much of it, even if it could sort of be a stretch to call Phantom of the Paradise a full-on horror musical. It’s the kind of thing that’s not for everyone, but it is worth a shot if you’re burned out on more traditional movie musicals, for whatever reason.
9
‘A Star Is Born’ (1954)
Judy Garland remains best known for her role in The Wizard of Oz, which has its moments that are intense by family movie standards, sure, but that one is overall much more digestible and approachable than A Star Is Born. Garland was in this alongside James Mason, with their two characters falling in love while the former’s character is on the rise, and the latter’s is struggling to stay relevant and popular.
It’s a surprisingly biting look at fame and the pitfalls of living one’s life in the spotlight, and is a timeless enough story to have been told twice more since 1954 (and this version wasn’t the first one, either). A Star Is Born isn’t intense because it’s graphic or packed with disturbing imagery or anything, but more because of how emotionally raw it is for a film of its age. It’s the kind of thing that can take you off guard if you go in expecting a more conventional mid-20th-century musical movie.
8
‘West Side Story’ (1961)
Since it’s based on the story of Romeo and Juliet, tragedy is inevitable with West Side Story, with the narrative here involving two people, somewhat tied to opposing sides of an ongoing gang war, falling in love. Points of tension are established, love blossoms quickly, and then various consequences all come in rapid succession not long after, with one awful thing after another.
At least the musical itself is vibrant and exciting at times, and it’s also the kind of sad story that offers catharsis, perhaps a little more than it inspires outright despair. That being said, it is still despairing. You can put a little distance between yourself and it because of how theatrical West Side Story is, and knowing about the Romeo and Juliet connection ahead of time also softens the blow slightly, but it still hits pretty hard, all things considered.
7
‘Cabaret’ (1972)
The setting of Cabaret is Berlin during the early 1930s, and most of the characters are caught up in a lavish lifestyle that involves working at, or attending, the Kit Kat Club. Meanwhile, fascism is on the rise, and there’s this tension that comes about because, as a viewer, you know what’s going to happen to not just Berlin, but the world, by the time the end of the 1930s comes around.
The characters don’t realize until too late, which is kind of the point of Cabaret; this exploration of not noticing something frightening rising because you’re too focused on something else. If you don’t want to consider the historical side of things at all, then maybe Cabaret would function as a sort of funny and kind of romantic melodrama, but what it’s really trying to explore – and how slowly it explores it – elevates the whole thing considerably.
6
‘Better Man’ (2024)
If you tell someone that Better Man is about Robbie Williams, they might react with disinterest, and then if you keep on going and let slip that Williams is depicted as a chimpanzee throughout the whole film, they could well tell you, “Go away, stop following me. I’ll call the cops.” It’s a shame, but that’s life, sometimes. It can be hard to praise Better Man, and recommend it to people you’re pretty sure will like it if they give it a chance.
Better Man is very honest about Williams and his tumultuous life, showcasing the ups and downs of fame, but mostly the downs.
Speaking of life being life sometimes, Better Man is very honest about Williams and his tumultuous life, showcasing the ups and downs of fame, but mostly the downs. It’s surprisingly intense, and since you forget he’s a chimp after a while (and the movie takes everything very seriously), sequences here hit very hard. On top of all that, Better Man is a musical and a biopic, ultimately being a rewarding watch that isn’t just about misery and the horrors of fame, since there is, thankfully, some hope regarding how to overcome all that.
5
‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ (2007)
Since it’s about a murderer and cannibalism plays a role in the plot, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is obviously going to rank among the darkest and most intense movie musicals of all time. There’s a whole complex cycle of violence that unfolds, with the titular character being a barber who uses his blade for other things, and then his accomplice being a woman who bakes the bodies of those he kills into pies.
Some of it’s darkly funny and over-the-top, since it’s all very theatrical, but at the same time, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is pretty sinister for hopefully obvious reasons. It might well be the last great (or close to great) movie Tim Burton ever directed, too, so it’s a sign that as recently as 2007, the guy still had “it.”
4
‘Pink Floyd: The Wall’ (1982)
Taking the album, The Wall, by Pink Floyd, and basically making it a feature-length music video, Pink Floyd: The Wall is honestly pretty stunning. And calling it a music video is cheeky, sure, but if most music videos take songs and build on them by giving them visuals, then that’s what this movie does for a whole double album that itself was basically feature-length, so it’s kind of a feature-length series of music videos.
The narrative of the original album becomes clearer here, and then the whole story about trauma, the downsides of fame, addiction, and eventually becoming a fascist (yes, this thing’s wild) feels more harrowing, as a result. Pink Floyd: The Wall kind of feels like it takes the darkest parts of aforementioned films like Cabaret and Better Man and blends them into one nightmarish cocktail that’s probably not for the faint of heart.
3
‘New York, New York’ (1977)
As a filmmaker, Martin Scorsese can do almost no wrong, but he did seem a bit out of his depths with New York, New York, which is a gritty drama, a romance (of sorts), and a musical, all at once. It feels like it may have influenced La La Land (2016), though that one is considerably bouncier and more upbeat, even if parts of it do inevitably feel bittersweet.
Like that film, New York, New York is about two people falling in love (sort of) and then facing certain challenges, with both having to balance their professional lives and the time they can give each other. It outdoes Cabaret in terms of being the darkest musical Liza Minnelli ever starred in, and Robert De Niro also brings an unsettling level of intensity to his role, making the whole thing a bit nightmarish in tone, though to some degree, this was probably the intent; like, an honest attempt to capture and explore a very rocky relationship.
2
‘Dancer in the Dark’ (2000)
While it’s an essential musical, Dancer in the Dark is also not the sort of musical you could recommend to anyone who’s a fan of the genre. All the music here is done as a way to escape reality, which is something that’s done in some classic Hollywood musicals, sure, but they didn’t tend to depict as harsh a reality as the one that the main character in Dancer in the Dark wants to escape.
She’s played heartbreakingly well by Björk, and is a working-class single mother who’s losing her eyesight, struggling to support her child, and at risk of being imprisoned for life (or worse) after tragically getting involved in a crime. Dancer in the Dark starts quietly sad, builds dread, soon feels nightmarish, and then ends up being astoundingly upsetting and soul-crushing. It’s one of the heaviest films of all time, musical-related or otherwise.
1
‘All That Jazz’ (1979)
A few years after Cabaret, Bob Fosse also directed All That Jazz, which went darker and much more introspective than his previous musical, exploring one man’s downfall rather than an entire nation collapsing (albeit mostly in the background, in Cabaret). But the intensity is higher because you get into the main character’s head, and the film doesn’t let you leave, with the knowledge that it’s all based on Fosse’s real life – and personal demons – making it all the more harrowing.
It does build to what would have to be one of the greatest endings of all time, but it’s the kind that sticks with you and isn’t necessarily just cathartic. All That Jazz, especially near the end, is stirring and monumental, but also weirdly nihilistic/existential. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s all kind of overwhelming and heavy, but the amount of control exercised by Fosse in making this movie about spiraling out of control really does have to be seen to be properly appreciated.