Incel Movies

This page contains links to movies that either deal with issues that incels also deal with, or movies containing incel characters. Many Hollywood perceptions mirror the stereotypical image of the incel as nerdy and inept, so consider yourself warned.

Otherwise, these films are generally quite good, and notice the fact that being an incel is almost an unnoticed marginal aspect to the character in many of these movies.

Film Title - Actor ("Character") (Year) (Country) = KEY

What Happened Was... - * (19**) (USA)
- according to a mail list member, "the best movie ever made about invcel".

The Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors - (2000)

Amelie - * ("Amelie")(199*) (France)

Heavy - * (1995) (USA)
- The main character in the movie was a man so shy that, when his mother is rushed to the hospital and passes away from some ailment or other, he does not tell any of her friends. When a gorgeous young woman with whom he is in love demands that he take her to see his mother at the hospital, he wordlessly drives the young woman to the graveyard and walks her to the plot where his mother has been buried.

As Good As it Gets - Jack Nicholson () (1996) (USA)
- "a great movie, but my impression of this (and other) virgin-guy-gets-girl movies is that the romances happen FAR too easily. You can't see the soul-searching, the agony of learning social skills too late, the terrifying fear of starting the relationship or becoming intimate in any way. You never see a main character long for relationships, but stay lonely to the end of the film. (Sometimes there are lonely minor characters, resigned to their fate.)"

People like these kinds of movies and characters because it "gives them hope". Many of us are aware, however, of the perils of hope, and are looking for nice, dark, realistic, tragic movies about our plight. Movies that make us feel better by letting us know we're not alone in a crazy world.

The thing is, those types of movies don't sell tickets... because most people don't like dark, realistic, tragic movies unless they're based on a historical event. That's why you have to look to independent films or foreign films to get the real story.

Boogie Nights - William H. Macy (1997) (USA).

Chicago - John C. Reilly (2002) (USA)

Edward Scissorhands - Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands) (1990) (USA)

Happiness - Phillip Seymour Hoffman (1998) (USA?)
- "Invcels and marcels abound, though I warn you, these are some pretty disturbed people. Yet, I don't remember any other movie that made me cry during the first scene and laugh at the last scene."

Yentl
- Barbra Streisand's character uses invcel-like behaviours to avoid relationships. However, her troubles come from society rather than from within herself.

Getting It Right - (1989)

Hard Eight - John C. Reilly (1997) (USA) (again!)

Insomnia - Robin Williams (2002) (USA)

Magnolia - William H. Macy (1999) (USA) (again!)

Malcolm - * (Malcolm) (198*) (Australia)

Marty - Ernest Borginine ("Marty") (195*) (USA)
- Ernest plays a man who is living at home with his mother and just can't seem to find a girlfriend. Then one day he goes to a dance, meets a woman and they begin to date. "Absolute favourite" of a mailing list member.

Character - (Holland/Netherlands)
- quite a few invcels in it; pretty good, kind of Dickensian in mood; "the perfect anti-date movie: unrequited love, longing, strength and suffering, decades and decades of celibacy, repressed passion, madness... It's got it all."

Moulin Rouge - John Leguizamo ("Toulouse") (2001) (USA)

Muriel's Wedding - * (Muriel) (199*) (Australia)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Nia Vardalos (2002) (UK)

Never Been Kissed - Drew Barrymore (1999) (USA)

O Brother Where Art Thou? - Tim Blake Nelson (2000) (USA)

Rising Damp - Leonard Rossiter ("Rigsby") (198*) (UK)

Roxanne - Steve Martin (BigNose) (1987) (USA)
- "One of my favourite movie scenes is the "20 something betters" in Steve Martin's Roxanne (which has my recommendation as a decent invcel movie, right next to either version of Cyrano, despite being a little saccharine)."

Harold and Maude
- "Harold, of course, thought he was in love with Maude and proposed marriage to her. Maude, older and wiser, look upon this with sympathy, but had another lesson to teach. She, of course, knew the relationship wouldn't be long-term. The specific line that was coming to mind was Maude's piece about how he should go out and live life to the fullest (using a sports analogy), in which she concluded, with a risque tone and manner, 'Otherwise you won't have anything to talk about in the locker room after the game.'
Harold was a 19 y.o. virgin with no dating experience and poor social skills. Maude was there to introduce him to life and love -- but, again, with no long-term relationship intended.
I think many invcels are pre-Maude Harolds. I was, certainly, when I first saw the film, and I still have that side of me, to be sure. Consider the lessons Harold had to learn at the end of the movie. Perhaps you should rent it again."

Taxi Driver - Robert De Niro (Travis Bickle) (1976) USA

The Secret of Nikola Tesla - * ("Nikola") (19**) (USA?)

The Virgin Suicides - * (1999) (USA?)

Unbreakable - Samuel L Jackson () (2000) (USA)

Under Solen (Under the Sun) - * (1998) (Sweden)

Un Coeur en Hiver (A Heart in Winter) - * ("Stephane") (1992) (France)

Welcome to the Dollhouse - * (19**) (USA?)

You're A Big Boy Now - Peter Kastner (1966) (USA)

She's All That -
- "I just saw an ad for a movie about a group of kids who decide to take a teen loser and turn her into the queen of the prom so they can then humiliate her. It looks like a romantic version of Carrie. Apparently, the popular asshole (a standard movie archetype) who's pretending to like her finds himself falling in love with her. Aw, how sweet! And I am betting we will learn about the boy's dysfunctional family life which created the monster he is. Do I need to see a movie about this. Who wants to watch some kid being cruelly manipulated for an hour and a half, even if it does have a fairy tale ending? People would be better off renting "Dogfight," a more serious film on the same topic."

Johnny Handsome - Mickey Rourke
- "A disfigured person, never given a clean break in life, gets used by a couple of crooks to help pull off a robbery, then is left to take the rap. While in prison, he is given the chance at experimental reconstructive surgery which gives him a normal, in fact nice, face. He gets paroled early, and uses his new anonymity to pay back the "debt" he owes these two. Chilly, but engrossing. Consider this the OBincel of movies for incels. "Johnny" was definitely mistreated, marginalised, and probably celibate because of his disfigurement. When this is removed, we find he still has scars... the deep, hidden kind. I wonder whom of us are Johnny Handsomes in our own right, no longer burdened by the problems which may have caused our state, but still bearing its marks?"

Even Hitler Had A Girlfriend -
- "It's about a lonely thirty year-old security guard who ends up spending all his money on dirty movies and prostitutes. There's a great scene where he's watching a movie about a brain in a jar that falls in love with a beautiful woman: 'Even the brain in a jar has a girlfriend...'; Highly recommended, although it is filled with nudity (this is not a problem for me ;-) ) and has the production values of early John Waters films. The director's website is at http://sepnet.com/rcramer/e_hitler.htm ."