16 Horror Movies That Meaningfully Address Grief

(Image credit: A24)

If you ask me, there is nothing in this world that is scarier than the mere thought of losing a loved one. That is why I believe horror movies about grief are some of the best horror movies of all time.

While I do enjoy a fun monster movie or having a jump scare with a creepy ghost flick, those films rarely manage to haunt me like a story following the main character’s struggle with a personal tragedy. If you are looking for the kind of horror movie that, even when it does delve into the supernatural, keeps its scares grounded, take a look at these picks for some frightening classics that deeply and tastefully involve the theme of grief.

Stars of Anything for Jackson — (Image credit: Shudder)

Anything For Jackson (2020)

How far would you go to be reunited with a loved one after they have passed? In Anything for Jackson, which is also available with a Shudder subscription, Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) and her husband, Henry (Julian Richings), discover a way to bring back their grandson by kidnapping a young woman and inserting his soul into her unborn child. Unfortunately, the Satanist couple ends up summoning more than they intended in this chilling twist on demonic possession movies from Justin G. Dyck.

A talking fox in Antichrist — (Image credit: Nordisk Film Distribution)

Antichrist (2009)

Another thriller about the devastating effects of losing a child with Satanic themes is Antichrist, which stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple trying to repair their relationship at an isolated woodland retreat after their infant son’s death. The bizarre and shocking movie is the first in writer and director Lars Von Trier’s “Depression Trilogy” and was, according to NPR, inspired by his own experience being hospitalized for anxiety.

Stars of The Final Girls — (Image credit: Sony)

The Final Girls (2015)

The only horror-comedy movie on this list is The Final Girls, in which Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga) is, sort of, reunited with her actor mother, Amanda (Malin Akerman), years after her death when she and her friends are transported into the world of the ‘80s slasher movie, Camp Bloodbath, and meets her mom’s character, Nancy. In addition to being a clever deconstruction of horror movie tropes, the film serves as a heartfelt meditation on processing loss. In fact, according to Creative Screenwriting, co-writer Joshua John Miller was inspired by the experience of watching his own late father, Jason Miller, in the 1973 classic The Exorcist.

Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman in The Babadook — (Image credit: Umbrella Entertainment)

The Babadook (2014)

The title character of The Babadook is one of modern horror’s greatest villains, not just because of its ghastly appearance or merciless taunting, but what it represents. Writer and director Jennifer Kent’s Australian import is about a single mother (played by Essie Davis) and her struggle to have a loving relationship with her young son (played by Noah Wiseman) since he was born on the day her husband died. The malevolent entity could be interpreted as a manifestation of her pain and resentment, which she must learn to live with by the end of the film.

A man holds and looks at a ball — (Image credit: Chessman Park Productions)

The Changeling (1980)

The haunted house classic The Changeling begins with, arguably, its most horrifying scene, with music professor John Russell (Academy Award winner George C. Scott) witnessing a motor accident that kills his wife and daughter. He later rents a Seattle mansion that is also occupied by the spirit of a boy needing help to reveal the mystery behind his death. The ensuing investigation turns out to be just what John needs to come to terms with the tragedy that recently befell him.

Shauna Macdonald in The Descent — (Image credit: Lionsgate)

The Descent (2005)

The Descent also opens with the death of the spouse and daughter of Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), who tries to overcome her depression a year later by joining friends on an ill-fated caving expedition. The fright fest that ensues after they become trapped in unexplored territory with vicious nocturnal creatures is relentlessly terrifying on the surface but what makes it one of the best horror movies of the 2000s is the way the underground maze symbolizes grief's seemingly inescapable nature. This is more apparent in Neil Marshall’s unrated director’s cut, featuring a more unsettling, heartbreaking, and widely preferred alternate ending.

Donald Sutherland in Don't Look Now — (Image credit: Paramount)

Don't Look Now (1973)

Grief can lead to (or even be a form of) obsession and both are central themes of one of the best horror movies of the 1970s, Don’t Look Now. Following their young daughter’s fatal drowning, a married couple (played by Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland in one of his best movies) take time away in Venice but the painful memory only continues to haunt them through logic-defying circumstances. Director Nicolas Roeg’s adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s story is a mind-bending, Hitchcockian nightmare only made more chilling by its grounded commentary on the lasting effect of loss.

Casey Affleck in A Ghost Story — (Image credit: A24)

A Ghost Story (2017)

The lasting effect of loss is one central theme in A Ghost Story, which follows a recently deceased composer (played by Casey Affleck) haunting his wife (played by Rooney Mara) in the years after his death. The conceit of this acclaimed A24 movie sounds a bit comical from a visual standpoint as the spirit literally wears a white sheet. Yet, writer and director David Lowery’s interpretation of the afterlife doesn't specifically aim to spook, but executes a transcendent, deeply thought-provoking exploration of the need to preserve one’s legacy beyond life and the healing power of time.

Logan Marshall-Green in The Invitation — (Image credit: Drafthouse Films)

The Invitation (2016)

For some, grief’s most difficult, but most important, aspect is confronting and accepting your feelings, but what happens when you cannot face that step? That is posited in one of the greatest horror movies by a female director, Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation, in which Will (Logan Marshall Green) attends a dinner party hosted by his former wife (played by Tammy Blanchard) years after they lost their son. I am not willing to reveal more about this scintillating masterpiece of slow-burn horror but have no issue praising its brazen depiction of the potentially dangerous influences of desperation.

Toni Collette screaming in Hereditary — (Image credit: A24)

Hereditary (2018)

Sometimes, the struggle to process grief stems from a strained relationship with a deceased loved one, which Hereditary addresses when it begins with a funeral for the mother of Annie (an astonishing Toni Collette). Soon, the story evolves into an increasingly upsetting meditation on tragedy’s deteriorating effects, in addition to the fear of passing past trauma onto your loved ones. It is a thoroughly hopeless downward spiral that is not for everybody but that is part of why writer/director Ari Aster’s head-turning debut is considered one of the best A24 horror movies ever.

Florence Pugh in Midsommar — (Image credit: A24)

Midsommar (2019)

Ari Aster further cemented himself as a modern trauma auteur with his sophomore effort, Midsommar, which wastes no time establishing the source of Dani’s (Florence Pugh) grief, showing her family's murder-suicide. Not receiving comfort from longtime boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor), she does find a much-needed support system while attending a seemingly idyllic Swedish festival. To see our grief-stricken central character finally achieve solace, albeit in a most unsettling way, makes for a bittersweet ending to this “cult” horror film (in the true sense of the term).

Rebecca Hall in The Night House — (Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

The Night House (2021)

CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg picked director David Bruckner’s The Night House as the best horror movie of 2021 for its expertly crafted exploration of grief. Widowed teacher Beth’s (Rebecca Hall) own uncertainties about the afterlife have made it difficult to cope with her husband’s suicide, until she begins to suspect his spirit lingers in their lakeside home. The chilling truth — which Hall requested to have changed from the original script — profoundly symbolizes the darkness people struggle to overcome in the wake of tragedy.

The creepy kid from The Orphanage — (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The Orphanage (2007)

The Spanish-language thriller The Orphanage, from director J.A. Bayona and producer Guillermo del Toro, stars Belén Rueda as a woman searching for her missing son, believing he was abducted from the home for orphaned children where she grew up. Her desperate search even involves calling a seance – something parents of missing children have been known to do – which results in some dark discoveries.

Church from Pet Sematary — (Image credit: Paramount)

Pet Sematary (1989)

If you had the chance to bring a loved one back to life, even if you knew that the consequences could be dire, would you? Stephen King’s 1983 novel Pet Sematary, which was first adapted for film in 1989, explores this concept in deeply unsettling, but undeniably honest ways. Dr. Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) loses his young son not long after learning a burial ground that can resurrect the dead lies near his new home. This leads him to make a decision that may seem unimaginable to some, but sympathetic to others who may wonder if they would do the same.

Sarah Snook in Run Rabbit Run — (Image credit: Netflix)

Run Rabbit Run (2023)

The 2023 Netflix movie release Run Rabbit Run stars Succession cast member Sarah Snook as single mother Sarah, who tries to understand why her daughter, Mia (Lily LaTorre), suddenly prefers to be called “Alice.” We learn by the end of the Australian thriller the significance of that name and its traumatic impact on Sarah’s life and her parenting. Writer Hannah Kent told HorrorBuzz that the thriller is about the uncomfortable topics that some parents are forced to confront and how they can be linked to painful memories or mistakes.

Stream Run Rabbit Run on Netflix

Barbara Crampton in We Are Still Here — (Image credit: Dark Sky Films)

We Are Still Here (2015)

It can be difficult to avoid reminders of a lost loved one, much like the main couple in We Are Still Here. When Anne Sacchetti (legendary Scream Queen Barbara Crampton) and her husband Paul (Andrew Sensenig) sense a spiritual presence in their new home, they immediately suspect it is their son, who recently died in a car crash. Unfortunately, that is not quite the case, but seeing the characters ponder that possibility gives writer and director Ted Geoghegan’s indie ghost story an unexpected level of depth and heart.

For me, the best kind of scary movies are the ones that address real, uncomfortable topics amid the escapist fantasy elements. As such, I consider these horror films that address grief to be among the strongest.

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Jason Wiese writes feature stories for CinemaBlend. His occupation results from years dreaming of a filmmaking career, settling on a "professional film fan" career, studying journalism at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO (where he served as Culture Editor for its student-run print and online publications), and a brief stint of reviewing movies for fun. He would later continue that side-hustle of film criticism on TikTok (@wiesewisdom), where he posts videos on a semi-weekly basis. Look for his name in almost any article about Batman.