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For Sale Mar 29, 2026 at 9:03 PM

What are your favorite examples of isolation in film?

Posted by After_Worldliness674

I've always been fascinated by the sense of individual isolation, maybe out of a morbid curiosity about how I'd fair in certain circumstances. In more realistic terms that's meant ideas and films about being trapped in nature or maybe the idea of imprisonment and solitary confinement ... but I love sci-fi ideas around this too even as dark as some Black Mirror episodes go. Watching *Papillon* (1973) or *The Man in the Iron Mask* (1998) when I was young probably inspired some of this. *Cast Away* (2000), *Moon* (2009), *Buried* (2010) also come to mind. *Into the Wild* (2007) or *The Revenant* (2015) too about being lost alone in nature. Curious it hear what films have resonated for others if this idea has struck you.  
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Prestigious_Fly8210 Mar 29, 2026 +18
The Martian
18
throwawayerest Mar 29, 2026 +1
Such an interesting one because he doesn't really seem alone in the movie even though he absolutely is. I think it's gotta be because the emphasis is on surving rather than being alone even though the isolation is certainly part of it. 
1
Bubba_Jones44 Mar 29, 2026 +3
The constant narration probably helps feels like he’s talking to us, but really just trying to keep his mind company
3
throwawayerest Mar 29, 2026 +8
Someone's going to say the Lighthouse. 
8
AmazingAd2502 Mar 30, 2026 +1
Ayyyyyy Nostradamus over here
1
PitifulDoombot Mar 29, 2026 +13
Moon (2009)
13
Lonelysoulman Mar 29, 2026 +5
Cast Away
5
kevlarcardhouse Mar 29, 2026 +7
All is Lost (2013). A perfect example where the beauty of isolation in nature can go wrong because there's nobody to help you.
7
neodiodorus Mar 29, 2026 +5
A different kind of isolation, so this might surprise you as he is moving around a busy metropolis - but think about his psychology and alienation, the absolute loneliness of building himself solitary confinement walls he cannot escape - and when he attempts via a heroic deed, it is still a shockingly desperate act: Yep, it is... Taxi Driver. Volumes can be filled with the analyses of Travis's character and it is, unfortunately, timeless and hence very relevant today, too.
5
AlphonsoDente Mar 29, 2026 +2
Yes, isolation doesn't have to just mean in the physical sense. In a similar vein - Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.
2
TrueLegateDamar Mar 29, 2026 +4
Ad Astra (2019)
4
Dreamless_Day Mar 29, 2026 +3
Gravity (2013) makes me uneasy
3
InertiasCreep Mar 29, 2026 +2
Yes.
2
Stunning_Scene_7152 Mar 29, 2026 +3
# Black Narcissus- Anglican nuns fight temptation, low morale and cold at a remote Himalayan mission.
3
Esseth Mar 29, 2026 +3
The Martian is one of my favourites, but a few others you might want to look into, Oxygen (2021), Moon (2009), U are the Universe (2025). I also put Aniara (2018) in that bucket, but it's not individual isolation.
3
FourSes Mar 29, 2026 +3
All Is Lost.
3
BattlinBud Mar 30, 2026 +3
Vivarium really stuck with me
3
AmazingAd2502 Mar 30, 2026 +1
Wow, seeing this comment on this thread made me realise more about it
1
throwawayerest Mar 29, 2026 +2
Aguirre, wrath of God? 
2
twitch_delta_blues Mar 29, 2026 +2
Never Cry Wolf (1983).
2
GoodOlBluesBrother Mar 29, 2026 +2
Alone in the Wilderness D*** Proenneke filmed himself living in the Alaskan wilderness. In 1968, at age 51, he moved to Twin Lakes, built his own log cabin by hand, and spent nearly 30 years documenting his self-sufficient life.
2
Corsair4U Mar 29, 2026 +2
I always think of Moon, it’s just that quiet lonely vibe that creeps up on you. The Lighthouse feels like straight cabin fever, and Gravity is more like pure panic being completely alone out there.
2
undeadsabby Mar 29, 2026 +2
Blue Lagoon (1980)
2
pickledperceptions Mar 29, 2026 +1
I enjoyed siràt this year. Not one perosn isolated but a group isolating themselves and suffering the consequences
1
Mr-Lungu Mar 29, 2026 +1
I really enjoyed Till Death. The whole premise is so scary
1
knitB4zod Mar 29, 2026 +1
Room (2015)
1
IgloosRuleOK Mar 29, 2026 +1
Psychological, but Melancholia.
1
BaconReceptacle Mar 29, 2026 +1
Castaway on the Moon.
1
Most_Arugula_3907 Mar 29, 2026 +1
Castaway
1
AnnJilliansBrassiere Mar 29, 2026 +1
I've never had any claustrophobia issues. I've worked in very tight constraining spaces, I've unfortunately spent a lot of time in MRI / CT machines, to the point that I've dozed off during scans. That being said, I started watching "Buried" in the dark, in bed, and I had to turn it off because it was giving me "panicky anxiety" just thinking of being where the lead character was.
1
garrisontweed Mar 29, 2026 +1
La cabina (1972) Spanish film. A man is trapped in a phone booth.
1
ZorroMeansFox Mar 29, 2026 +1
Here's something I found interesting and melancholy: The 1975 experimental film **The Noah**. It's a post-apocalyptic film --and it only has one person on screen throughout its entire narrative. It's about The Last Man On Earth, who has survived the final war, a soldier whose life-raft washes ashore on a deserted island (that had been a Japanese Army base in World War II). There, he goes mad from loneliness while waiting for the winds to shift, blowing deadly radiation to the island. I've yet to meet another person who's seen it.
1
dumbBunny9 Mar 29, 2026 +1
The Quiet Earth
1
extrapulpcomics Mar 29, 2026 +1
The Martian, Moon, It Comes at Night and Cloverfield Lane are the films that immediately come to mind. 
1
Own-Librarian-9699 Mar 29, 2026 +1
Distant Thunder (1988) is good stuff
1
Jonneiljon Mar 30, 2026 +1
Dersu Uzla
1
diegotown177 Mar 30, 2026 +1
Taxi Driver
1
ombiChron Mar 29, 2026
Buried is so good and I rarely see praise for it. What a cool concept that is executed wonderfully.
0
PvtHudson093 Mar 30, 2026 +1
Lost in Translation
1
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