Thrillers with protagonists that have disabilities?
October 13, 2023 1:50 PM Subscribe
I recently watched Upgrade and was struck by a comment on letterboxd where someone complained about movies where disabled people get "fixed" is a major plot point.
I was wondering what movies are there out there with disabled protagonists where they fight back / get revenge / insert genre thing here, while still keeping their disability.
I thought of a few:
Blind Fury probably counts, as well as the various Zatoichi films, but they feel like they might be slightly against the spirit of what I'm thinking of. The main characters' blindness in those movies is almost irrelevant... Like how technically Daredevil is blind, and sometimes it's a plot point, but for the most part he can see better than I can and his stories (or at least his movies and Netflix show) don't really tend to incorporate his disability in a meaningful and pervasive way.
I'm not sure if movies like Bird Box are relevant, but I wouldn't be upset if something like it came up in responses. It's the inverse of Daredevil -- non-disabled characters who temporarily for plot reasons have to deal with a disability, instead of characters who theoretically have a disability that for the most part they get to ignore.
So.... any other good thriller (or spy or action or horror etc.) movies with disabled protagonists where their disability is incorporated meaningfully into the story?
I was wondering what movies are there out there with disabled protagonists where they fight back / get revenge / insert genre thing here, while still keeping their disability.
I thought of a few:
- Run (2020)
- See for Me (2021)
- Misery (1990)
- Blind Fury (1989)
- Silver Bullet (1985)
- Wait Until Dark (1967)
Blind Fury probably counts, as well as the various Zatoichi films, but they feel like they might be slightly against the spirit of what I'm thinking of. The main characters' blindness in those movies is almost irrelevant... Like how technically Daredevil is blind, and sometimes it's a plot point, but for the most part he can see better than I can and his stories (or at least his movies and Netflix show) don't really tend to incorporate his disability in a meaningful and pervasive way.
I'm not sure if movies like Bird Box are relevant, but I wouldn't be upset if something like it came up in responses. It's the inverse of Daredevil -- non-disabled characters who temporarily for plot reasons have to deal with a disability, instead of characters who theoretically have a disability that for the most part they get to ignore.
So.... any other good thriller (or spy or action or horror etc.) movies with disabled protagonists where their disability is incorporated meaningfully into the story?
You have to check out Hush (2016).
posted by panhopticon at 1:58 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by panhopticon at 1:58 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
In The Accountant, the main character's autism figures prominently into the story, and is never 'fixed'.
posted by Hatashran at 2:00 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Hatashran at 2:00 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
John Wick 4 might qualify? Donnie Yen plays a blind assassin who is an antagonist/lesser-protagonist (I believe this is a common trope in this series) and he does get revenge/accomplish his goals. He does some pretty nifty stuff to compensate for his lack of sight in combat, but there are points in fights where his blindness is basically ignored, which is why I'm not sure it completely fits your criteria.
posted by praemunire at 2:05 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 2:05 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Donnie Yen is also blind in Rogue One, but also able to use some force powers. Maybe more action then thriller. Same might apply to Rutger Hauer's blind protag in Blind Fury.
The Prestige has a key character who loses fingers early on in the film.
Rambo has PTSD throughout First Blood. Probably quite a lot of people in The Deer Hunter also. You could make an argument for many iterations of Batman too.
Rooster Cogburn is always missing an eye. Tom Cruise's (real life) protag in Valkyrie loses an eye.
Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams both have mental health issues in The Fisher King.
posted by biffa at 2:41 PM on October 13, 2023
The Prestige has a key character who loses fingers early on in the film.
Rambo has PTSD throughout First Blood. Probably quite a lot of people in The Deer Hunter also. You could make an argument for many iterations of Batman too.
Rooster Cogburn is always missing an eye. Tom Cruise's (real life) protag in Valkyrie loses an eye.
Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams both have mental health issues in The Fisher King.
posted by biffa at 2:41 PM on October 13, 2023
This is a fascinating question. I am sadly not aware of very many examples; people get fixed a lot, and often the disability is ignored until it shows up as plot device (I'm looking at you, Geordi La Forge.
I wonder if certain types of physical situationspeople are more familiar with, wheelchair use for instance, are more common than, say, blindness, to say nothing of neurological stuff. I feel like disability in film and TV was probably underexamined until very recently.
posted by Alensin at 2:45 PM on October 13, 2023
I wonder if certain types of physical situationspeople are more familiar with, wheelchair use for instance, are more common than, say, blindness, to say nothing of neurological stuff. I feel like disability in film and TV was probably underexamined until very recently.
posted by Alensin at 2:45 PM on October 13, 2023
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (so good)
posted by Ideal Impulse at 3:01 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideal Impulse at 3:01 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Don't Breathe features a blind protagonist who (spoiler alert?) becomes the antagonist.
posted by hydra77 at 3:02 PM on October 13, 2023
posted by hydra77 at 3:02 PM on October 13, 2023
What about TV shows? Not sure if this meets your genre requirements but Only Murders In The Building has a Deaf character whose disability is integral to the plot. From interviews, it seems like the actor (who is also Deaf) and the production team went to great effort to explicitly avoid the cliches you mentioned and came up with some fun cinematic ways to explore his deafness (esp s1e7).
posted by yeahlikethat at 3:47 PM on October 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by yeahlikethat at 3:47 PM on October 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
Sneakers has a blind character named Whistler, who brings social engineering and phone phreaking to the table. He's based off of Joe Engressia, one of the original phone phreaks, who was born blind and had perfect pitch.
posted by Rudy_Wiser at 3:54 PM on October 13, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by Rudy_Wiser at 3:54 PM on October 13, 2023 [8 favorites]
If you’re looking to expand your viewing to things that are INCLUSIVE of disabled people and disabled stories, then there’s also a missing part here. Many people want representation from people who are disabled, not abled actors playing disabled characters - often unrealistically. Because also these roles are still written by abled people that involve tropes and little feedback from actual disabled people. And yes “fixing” the disability or “I’m evil because I’m disabled” are tropes many are tired of.
You can seek some info from disabled people who discuss these things. Many blog about it.
(Of course there are times when it’s not always feasible, but technology can really do a lot to be more inclusive than it has been.)
In your example, Run used a disabled actor.
SEE (the series) is one of the exceptions I found really well done (though I am not blind myself). It’s an incredible series and it really feels that they had input from disabled people in terms of world building and writing. Incredible ways that the world was built to accommodate the idea of everyone* being blind. For example writing is done with tying knots and there is so much communication through sound and feel. They must have had consultants.
A Quiet Place has a Deaf character played by a Deaf actor.
The Dragon Prince (series) has an amazing Deaf character that signs.
Baby Driver has a character that is Deaf played by a Deaf actor.
posted by Crystalinne at 4:12 PM on October 13, 2023 [9 favorites]
You can seek some info from disabled people who discuss these things. Many blog about it.
(Of course there are times when it’s not always feasible, but technology can really do a lot to be more inclusive than it has been.)
In your example, Run used a disabled actor.
SEE (the series) is one of the exceptions I found really well done (though I am not blind myself). It’s an incredible series and it really feels that they had input from disabled people in terms of world building and writing. Incredible ways that the world was built to accommodate the idea of everyone* being blind. For example writing is done with tying knots and there is so much communication through sound and feel. They must have had consultants.
A Quiet Place has a Deaf character played by a Deaf actor.
The Dragon Prince (series) has an amazing Deaf character that signs.
Baby Driver has a character that is Deaf played by a Deaf actor.
posted by Crystalinne at 4:12 PM on October 13, 2023 [9 favorites]
The Aura is a crime movie whose protagonist has epilepsy.
Memory of a Killer aka The Alzheimer Case is about a hitman with Alzheimer's.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:56 PM on October 13, 2023
Memory of a Killer aka The Alzheimer Case is about a hitman with Alzheimer's.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:56 PM on October 13, 2023
A Quiet Place, definitely.
Mad Max Fury Road has a disabled protagonist character, not the actor.
Murderball is a fast paced documentary
Will Trent is a series with a lead character with multiple neurodiverse disabilities with a colleague that has ptsd+
posted by childofTethys at 5:13 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Mad Max Fury Road has a disabled protagonist character, not the actor.
Murderball is a fast paced documentary
Will Trent is a series with a lead character with multiple neurodiverse disabilities with a colleague that has ptsd+
posted by childofTethys at 5:13 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
There were a few made-for-TV movies of Dick Francis novels with Sid Halley as the main character. (The last Sid Halley book, written by Dick Francis's son does feature a magic hand transplant and riding off into the heteronormative sunset with a pretty woman. Pretend it doesn't exist.)
posted by hoyland at 5:42 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hoyland at 5:42 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
I also just remembered the remake of Rear Window, staring Chris Reeve.
posted by Crystalinne at 5:47 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Crystalinne at 5:47 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Wait Untiil Dark.
It was a Broadway play before it was a movie. More about saving oneself than revenge, but, as you might expect of a major play, was an examination of what disability means.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:43 AM on October 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
It was a Broadway play before it was a movie. More about saving oneself than revenge, but, as you might expect of a major play, was an examination of what disability means.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:43 AM on October 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Are you set on movies only?? I have a couple of non-movie recommendations:
[BOOK] The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan - one of the two main protagonists, Alan Ryves, has a limp which (a) affects the plot without driving it, (b) is part of his character arc which deliberately turns the "magically healed disability" trope on its head, and (c) is important to his psychology, impacting his choices and biases and behavior in a hundred subtle ways.
[TV SERIES] Avatar: The Last Airbender, starting from Season 2 Episode 4 "The Swamp" - Toph Beifong joins the show as a new main cast member & protagonist. She is blind, and her disability is both central to her character as well as completely irrelevant to her story. There are a several hilarious scenes which self-consciously poke fun at how sometimes the other characters (and maybe us, the viewers) forget she's blind - but of course, the writers and Toph never do.
posted by MiraK at 12:27 PM on October 14, 2023
[BOOK] The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan - one of the two main protagonists, Alan Ryves, has a limp which (a) affects the plot without driving it, (b) is part of his character arc which deliberately turns the "magically healed disability" trope on its head, and (c) is important to his psychology, impacting his choices and biases and behavior in a hundred subtle ways.
[TV SERIES] Avatar: The Last Airbender, starting from Season 2 Episode 4 "The Swamp" - Toph Beifong joins the show as a new main cast member & protagonist. She is blind, and her disability is both central to her character as well as completely irrelevant to her story. There are a several hilarious scenes which self-consciously poke fun at how sometimes the other characters (and maybe us, the viewers) forget she's blind - but of course, the writers and Toph never do.
posted by MiraK at 12:27 PM on October 14, 2023
It's a bit old now (Russell Crowe is just a lad!) but Proof starring Hugo Weaving as a blind photographer fits the bill.
posted by Thella at 4:11 PM on October 14, 2023
posted by Thella at 4:11 PM on October 14, 2023
My first thought was this book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It's a fun read.
I thought it would have been made into a movie by now, but just wanted to put it on your radar in case you're open to other media.
posted by pdxhiker at 10:21 PM on October 17, 2023
I thought it would have been made into a movie by now, but just wanted to put it on your radar in case you're open to other media.
posted by pdxhiker at 10:21 PM on October 17, 2023
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, based on the novel, is an award-winning play, and a performance may be available online?
(I found the book rather harrowing, myself.)
Hey, here's a trailer from 2014, and a high school production, and now YouTube is crashing for me.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:28 PM on October 18, 2023
(I found the book rather harrowing, myself.)
Hey, here's a trailer from 2014, and a high school production, and now YouTube is crashing for me.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:28 PM on October 18, 2023
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(If you include temporarily disabled, as with Misery.)
posted by Tim Bucktooth at 1:57 PM on October 13, 2023 [5 favorites]