Do you ever find yourself reacting to films physically?

[Soubriquet]

Currently watching sanctum and obviously there are several points where they don’t breathe properly

I can feel my chest getting tight and feels like I’m not getting enough oxygen

It did the same on gravity

Just me?

Yes, especially when the person on screen is struggling for breath.

Oh yes. If I’ve been watching a tense drama or a horror or if anyone is injured. I get so stressed I usually get a headache! Watching ‘Bone Tomahawk’ nearly killed me.

The first few episodes of I May Destroy you, I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I guess that’s a testament to the skill of the writers and directors.

I can't bear the sound of scraping metal or machine gun fire in action films. I have to leave the room.

Unfortunately DH likes crap like Transformers

It’s strange isn’t it?

I mean you expect thrillers and horrors to scare you and make you jump, but you don’t expect films to cause you to feel like you can’t breathe.

I also get embarrassed if someone does something really cringy on the screen

It can also be a sign of unprocessed trauma that is still imprinted in the brain and on the body.

i often feel emotions physically, which makes some intense or disturbing films quite painful to watch

I get really sweaty when people are dangling off tall buildings/precipices/lift shafts

When I watched ‘what’s love got to do with it?’ - the hairs on the back of my neck and back stood up in terror at the scene when Ike drags Tina into another room - never forgotten it

@InTheFamilyTree

It can also be a sign of unprocessed trauma that is still imprinted in the brain and on the body.

That’s interesting actually as I have almost drowned twice in my life.

One a friend panicked whilst we were swimming and she held me under to keep herself afloat

The second time, I came down a slide with a rubber ring around my waist. I stupidly came down head first and there I was my legs in the air waving frantically to get righted back up. Life guard had to rescue me from that

Yes, I'm claustraphobic and find myself getting really anxious and panicky when there are any tight spaces in films!

Everest, the film about t he 96 disaster had me so on edge for about 3 days and awful nightmares. Never reacted like that to a film!!

Watching 'the Departed' in a packed cinema. The whole audience collectively and audibly sucked in their breath at the same time in reaction to a particular scene.
It was impressive.
Love that film.

Definitely! And on a different level, both The Blair Witch Project and Dancer in the Dark made me feel dizzy and a bit sick - I assume it was because of the handheld camera in both films.

I remember vividly the first time I saw Blair Witch Project in a cinema and actually having sweaty palms every time it gets dark in the film, my nerves anticipating what was to come I guess, but an unpleasant physical reaction!

OP I nearly drowned as a child and even reading your descriptions of what happened to you filled me with horror and a sick feeling! Glad you got saved.

@Soubriquet

It’s strange isn’t it?

I mean you expect thrillers and horrors to scare you and make you jump, but you don’t expect films to cause you to feel like you can’t breathe.

I also get embarrassed if someone does something really cringy on the screen

I get the embarrassment part.

I felt awful and anxious for a while after A Star is Born after the situation at the Grammy's.

I think I spend so much of my life trying to avoid embarrassment that moments like that on screen I really struggle.

The other thing I can't hack in films is if people are sneaking around and rifling through drawers/files they shouldn't be. I can't stand it.

Probably something I should mention to my therapist.